3 Wishes
by Ms. Controversy
Summary: After failing her fairy licensing exam, Emma is given another chance to pass the qualifications...by granting Tala Ivanov three wishes. TalaxOC. LEMON/LIME.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE**

Professor Marlon walked up and down the aisles of desks in the classroom, handing back to the students the graded exams, "Well done," He commented to one student with a B, "Exceptional!" He beamed at the next student with a near perfect test score.

Most of his students had done quite well, the exam having been a fair one if he did say so himself.

But not all were diligent.

He frowned as he passed by the brunette, her green eyes wide in anticipation of her score, her hands clasped together on the surface of the table. The test was dropped on her desk, a red inked 49 percent off to the corner indicating her failure.

Professor Marlon turned around much too quickly to catch her reaction, but he knew words would be exchanged after class. He sighed loudly as Emma strolled to the front of the class while the remainder of students filed out of the room upon dismissal.

"49?" It was said with a tone of disbelief.

"Obviously you didn't study," He began wiping the chalkboard, "I really thought you would come through this time, Emma. I am disappointed,"

"What now?"

"What do you mean 'what now'? You didn't pass the qualifying exam and therefore cannot get your licence to cast spells,"

"Please don't say that!" She followed him into the hallways where he headed for the staff room, "Give me one more chance, please Professor Marlon,"

"This _was_ your 'one more chance'. I've let you write the exam twice! Do you have any idea what would happen if the chairman finds out I let you write it a second time?"

"But Professor!"

He entered the staff room, littered with other professors of the institution. It was a gigantic room where everything, like furniture and clothing, was mostly white and everyone busy doing one thing or another.

"There isn't anything I can do, Emma. Now please, return your wand," He sat at his table, logging onto the Fairy Network on his computer.

"No! No, please no," She pleaded, the fronts of her eyebrows turned upward in an upsetting expression, "Please don't do this to me. Just give me one last chance to write the exam,"

"You're simply out of your mind,"

"Third time's a charm!"

He stared at her for a moment. She was a sweet girl, a pleasure to have in class, but God were her fairy skills awful. Nonetheless, those green puppy eyes seemed to have worked their magic on him again as he gave in with another sigh, "I will not allow you to write the exam a third time, _but_ ," He typed something on his keyboard before moving the monitor to face her, her confusion rising as a bunch of photos of people from all of the world started popping up on the screen at high speed, one after the other, "There is one more thing I can let you do to prove you qualify for the fairy licence. This is a random generator. Whoever it selects, you will grant him or her three wishes. Upon successful completion of the task, you will obtain your licence,"

"Three wishes – I can do that!"

Professor Marlon appeared doubtful, but focused on the screen as the generator started to slow down, an individual soon to be picked out. The wait was agonizing, but then, "Aha," He looked over the profile of a redhead, his blue eyes even more piercing in the candid photo, "Let's see what we have here. Tala Ivanov, born in Moscow, Russia, now resides in Miami, cheated on nearly a year ago by a former girlfriend. Hmm, shame. Anyways, no allergies," His finger moved from line to line as he continued to skim through the contents of personal information, "26 years old. Ah, and an avid beyblader,"

"So all I have to do is grant him any three wishes -"

"As per the fairy regulations," He was quick to remind, to which she nodded, "And you cannot distort his wishes. You must abide by what he wants. Think you can handle it?"

"Consider it done, Professor Marlon,"

"I'll believe it when I see it. And Emma," He called her over once more just before she could leave, "Don't screw him over."

* * *

 **A/N –** Story will focus on Tala from the next chapter. Loosely inspired/based off a movie from childhood. Please review with feedback if you have read this chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

Emma looked around her bedroom full of scattered items before zipping up the suitcase that was on her bed. Well, this was it. She grabbed the gold stem off her dresser and waved it, "Roses are red, violets are blue, transport me to Tala's room!"

 **x x x**

Tala reached for his phone as it blared a generic melody, indicating it was time to wake up. He switched off the 7 AM alarm and briefly checked the contents of his phone, a common habit of many people in this day and age. Hilary had a plethora of new honeymoon pictures on her _Instagram_ , Kai and her having picked Istanbul, Turkey for their destination. After going out for years, they had finally tied the knot just over a month ago. It was a small and intimate wedding ceremony, where Tyson was appropriately handed the role of best man.

The others had also ventured onto other parts of their lives; Ian was amidst his PhD studies, Bryan and Mariah were still going strong on their third year of dating whereas Spencer was nowhere near settling down, going through women on a nightly basis like a fistful of sand, and as for himself...

Well, after being stuck for five years in what was ultimately a dead end relationship as a result of unfaithfulness from the other party, he'd followed in Spencer's footsteps and quite enjoyed the liberation single life had bestowed upon him. Other than that, he was still very much involved in beyblading and took home a massive paycheque after each tournament. In fact, the Blitzkrieg Boys were due to reunite in a few days with the next tournament just around the corner.

Finally, he tossed the device aside and sat up, squinting as the Sun's bright rays seeped through the slightly open blinds. There was a knock on his door followed by an older woman poking her head into his room, "Mr. Ivanov, what would you like for breakfast this morning?"

He shrugged at the cook, "I'm not sure yet. I'll decide after my work out and training,"

As she nodded and left, he headed for the washroom to freshen up before roaming around his enormous house. A number of workers had been hired to maintain his, what most would call, mansion. The grass had been cut, the flowers planted and watered, the pool cleaned, the floors swept and mopped, and his clothes laundered. He had to make use of all his money somehow, after all, and he chose to use it to live like a king.

Or as much of a king as he could be.

He was swiftly tackled to the ground like a ragdoll, the wolf standing right on his chest licking and slobbering all over his face, his tail wagging in joy.

"Wolborg!" Tala's scolding appeared to have little effect and he sighed, petting the beast behind his ears, "Did you eat? We're going to train in an hour after I finish working out," The animal climbed off his owner and sat on the ground, whining while his ears bent backwards in protest, "Hey, you know the drill. We train Monday to Friday. Saturday and Sunday, you can do whatever you want,"

Tala led the way into the kitchen, dumping some dog food into the dish on the ground. The two separated for an hour just like was mentioned, coming together later for beyblade training. The rest of the day was spent doing paperwork for his team's registration, other errands, and before he knew it, it was time for dinner. Despite having a personal cook, he'd ordered in.

The doorbell rung, signifying the arrival of pizza. The thought of pepperoni made Wolborg go crazy as he ran towards the door at hyper speed, but not before slipping on the clean wooden floors. Tala rolled his eyes as the wolf cartwheeled into the wall up ahead.

"Wolborg, calm down," He warned as he strolled back to the living room with the box in hand, the wolf running circles around him with his tongue out. It was set on the coffee table and as soon as the lid was popped open, Wolborg had dived in. Tala grabbed a slice from the other side while flopping onto the couch, resuming with the movie on _Netflix_.

Nothing said single like pizza and Netflix with your 'dog' on the eve of the weekend.

But Spencer had a different definition.

The redhead's phone vibrated next to the pizza box, his teammate's name displaying on the screen. Pizza in one hand, he answered the call with the other, "Yeah?"

"I'm picking you up in 15," Most beybladers had moved to the U.S. and while the Blitzkrieg Boys were scattered all over America – Kai in Manhattan, Bryan in Chicago, and Ian in Boston – Spencer was the only other one who decided to reside in Miami as well. There was a lot of rain and despite the hurricanes, the weather was unbeatable and unlike Russia.

"What's the plan?"

"Friday night, man," Spencer reasoned, "Plenty of bitches out and about,"

A half hour later, Tala found himself at some downtown bar chatting up a 'bitch' that happened to be 'out and about'. This particular 'bitch' was the friend of the woman Spencer was socializing with, the redhead effectively playing wingman.

The sound of ice being stirred around brought his gaze down to the girl's empty drink as she continued moving the straw around indicatively. He knew that move; the bartender was called over to refill her glass in the exchange of his credit card.

 **x x x**

A wormhole opened up midair in a bedroom, spitting the fairy out of it. It disappeared above her and gravity took over immediately. Fortunately, the crash landing happened on a bed. Her eyes enlarged as her suitcase had yet to land, though it was falling fast, aiming for her head.

Emma grabbed her wand, a quick spell making the luggage float for a few seconds before abruptly exploding, making the room rain with burning clothes.

The brunette jumped at the sound of the blast, a hand shielding one side of her face prior to being startled by the woman sitting up next to her, "Hello!" Emma looked at the horrified woman's bare chest before grinning whilst holding up the gold metal stick, "Are you in need of clothing? I can make it happen!"

"What the fuck?" But as something stirred around on the other side, she looked to her left at the redhead that had sat up on the mattress, sandwiching her between him and the naked woman.

"Oh, hi! Good morning! My apologies for the mess. You must be Tala. Pleasure to meet you," She grabbed his limp hand and shook it enthusiastically, "I'm Emma and I have to grant you three wishes,"

He took one look at her before glancing over at his door, "SECURITY!"

* * *

 **A/N –** This fandom is sooo dead. Sad! Please review with feedback and/or compliments! I love reading them!

 **THANK YOU TO:**

 **Mistress of the Arts –** Loved reading your review! Long ones are always the best! Emma and Dylan are nowhere near each other in character haha. This story, however, will not be as in depth as Exiled.

 **zeratheliger**


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

"Please let me go!"

It was the beginning of a slew of requests Tala heard the girl make as two securities dragged her out of his room.

"Don't take my wand, please!"

The redhead quickly pulled on some jeans and a tee, forgetting about the piece of ass he brought home last night. Besides, he knew she would quickly leave on her own.

"I'm a fairy!"

Oh, the drugs that people took. He followed the sounds of more begging, standing at the foot of his front door watching the security guards dump her off his property just outside of the main gates. She grabbed the metal bars, her pleading never ending even as they walked away.

Nonetheless, Tala was not happy, "Your job is to watch this place. It's not that difficult,"

"We apologize, Mr. Ivanov,"

"How did she get inside?"

"At this time we are unsure which part of the house the break in occurred from, but rest assured we will find it and have it resolved right away. Also, we recovered this weapon," One of the guards handed the redhead a plain gold stick.

Tala looked at the skinny 'weapon', about 30 or so centimetres in length, "Have this dispos -" It was suddenly snatched from his grip, the guards jumping back as the wolf appeared, clutching the object in his mouth.

"Wolborg!" The redhead glared at the retreating wolf as it ran away somewhere in the massive house.

"Mr. Ivanov?"

"Let him be," Tala essentially let go of the matter, "He thinks it's a toy."

 **x x x**

The fairy walked back and forth along one end of the gate to the other, anxiously staring at the house. It had been hours since she was thrown out. She had requested they return her wand until her throat became dry from the shouting.

"Emma,"

She turned on her heel, "Professor Marlon!"

"I'm glad you made it to Florida safely," He approached the gates and looked over the estate, "So this is where Tala Ivanov lives. Hmm, nice place. Well, have you met him?"

"Yes,"

"And?"

"He's quite tall," She flexed and patted her muscle-less bicep, "Nice arms too!"

"Emma..."

"And his room is huge!"

He frowned, "You _have_ met him, right?"

"Now when you say 'meet'-"

Professor Marlon exhaled out loudly, "What happened this time?"

The events were delivered verbally, his eyes inching wider following each sentence, "I don't understand why he got so angry. I even offered the girl beside him some clothes,"

"Well it's not exactly courteous or recommended to barge in on two nude people after they clearly mated just hours prior,"

" _Oh_ ," Realization hit her as she nodded slowly, "Is that what they were up to?"

He heaved another sigh, "Look Emma, you can't just go up to someone and tell them you're a fairy. You have to have more tact than that. And where is your wand?"

"When you say 'where'-"

"Emma!"

"I'm sorry, they took it!"

Professor Marlon gawked at her in disbelief before producing his own wand, "I can't deal with this anymore,"

"But Professor!"

And as he vanished in thin air, she remained in solitude and practically stranded. Her gaze fell onto the mansion before her hands began banging at the gates and shaking at the bars, "Tala! TALA! TA-LA!" She squinted as she thought she saw something from one of the windows upstairs, making her extend an arm between two bars, "Oh! Oh! Yes! Please give me back my wand! I'm going to get into a lot of trouble! No! Wait!" But as the figure disappeared, the curtains pulled, her shoulders slumped.

 **x x x**

After generously sleeping in, Tala awoke the next morning to the sound of Wolborg howling and barking throughout and outside the house. He was unable to interfere – the weekends were Wolborg's days to do anything he pleased. A shower later, he was in the kitchen having the peanut butter and jam sandwich the cook had served.

"That girl that was found in your room is still outside," She informed whilst cutting up some vegetables. Tala took a peek through the window, grimacing as Wolborg's eyes turned into heart shapes at the sight of her on the other side of the gates. The 'wand', as she referred to it, was also given back to her, the wolf handing it over from under the fence. After a few affectionate pets to the head of his bit beast, he watched as she foolishly pointed the stick towards the gates several times, "You want me to call the cops, Mr. Ivanov?"

"As long as that nutcase is off my property, I don't care what she does,"

The rest of the day had been uneventful for Tala and by nightfall, Miami's rain had made landfall. He yawned as he played a game of checkers with Wolborg, the wolf moving pieces with his nose, paw, and sometimes his teeth. It was when the lights flickered that the beast looked around curiously.

"Power never goes out around here, Wolborg," He used his black pieces to jump over several red ones, "I win again,"

The lights flickered once more and, contrary to his statement, had indeed gone out this time. The hum of all electronics in the house died along with the sources of lights within the estate.

"Mr. Ivanov!"

"I'm fine," He acknowledged to his staff, "Just get the generator running," The security personnel disappeared into the basement while the redhead used the light from his cell phone to navigate his way around, but it was the creaking sound of his gates that made him pause. His eyes narrowed as he looked out one of windows to find that they had been rendered open as a result of the security system being disengaged, the intruder now walking freely across his yard.

"Wolborg, stay," Tala commanded as he unlocked the front doors and raced outside; he would deal with the psycho himself. Must've been a crazed fan. He ran barefoot over the grass, ready to make a tackle as he neared her. The gap between them closed in and just as the generator kicked in, illuminating his property, he roughly seized her by her upper arm.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to knock the power out, I was only trying to get the gates to open," He yanked at her, his entire hand fitting around her lean limb. She had flinched, in either fear or pain, possibly both. Her brows furrowed from the rain, her eyes blinking them away, "Please let me inside,"

"I'm calling the cops," He began hauling her indoors, "You're fucking crazy,"

"Please don't do that!" Her feet padded quickly in an attempt to keep up while being dragged, "I'm supposed to just grant you three wishes and then leave,"

"Stop with this bullshit!" He grabbed the stick out of her other hand before flinging it across the living room, "What's your fucking problem? Answer me!" The horror became apparent on her face as he shook her, "Are you on medication? Why are you trying to get into my fucking house?"

"I'm supposed to stay with you until I'm done,"

"Why don't you use your dumb 'wand' and go somewhere else?" The redhead ridiculed.

"The granter of the wish, which is me, must be within 100 feet of the beneficiary of the wish, which is you. And anyway, I can't use the transport spell until tomorrow. If you let me, I can even take you anywhere you -"

"I don't want to hear about this voodoo shit anymore," He cut her off, releasing her arm in the process where three red lines started to develop, "Tell me where you live and I will give you a ride home, but if I ever see you near my house again you won't be as lucky next time,"

"But I'm not from around here,"

Tala inspected her briefly; she appeared rather harmless. Out of her mind, but still harmless. There were no weapons visible at first glance, but even so, he highly doubted she was carrying anything underneath her skirt or inside her top. In any case, with all his training from the Abbey and having served in the military briefly, he'd be able to disarm anybody within seconds.

"One night," The conclusion came when she was finally disregarded as a threat, "I will allow you to stay here for one night only,"

"Really!" She perked up, throwing herself at him, "Thank you!"

But she was quickly heaved aside, "Don't ever touch me again,"

Emma's arms rose in defence while a decently-sized grin took up half her face, "Your wish is my command!"

* * *

 **A/N –** Action begins next chapter! Rating may or may not go up, I have not yet decided (I can't see someone like Emma having sex :| I don't think anyone can). Chapters may get longer as well. Please drop me a line in the review section.

 **Xoxo for...**

 **PREACH –** Emma will be nothing like Dylan! She will be an entirely different character. Thanks! Hope to hear from you!

 **Zeratheliger –** Haha I thought about the cameo too :P but, it would not go with this story!


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

The 26 year old let out a yawn, shutting off the 7 AM alarm. He remained sprawled on his mattress for the next few minutes, scrolling through random things on his phone, catching up on world news, and noting an email from his mother informing him she was on her way to America for a visit. As he made his way to the washroom, he was mildly surprised when the cook hadn't enquired about his breakfast yet like she usually did.

Upon his exit from the washroom, Wolborg once again undertook him, climbing over him and displaying obvious affection for his owner. He wiped Wolborg's slobber off his face and got to his feet, his fingers grazing the back of the wolf's head, "Alright, that's enough. I have to work out and then we have to train,"

The bit beast turned his nose up in the air along with his tail in an attempt to express his aversion to training while Tala only rolled his eyes before making his way towards the basement. Halfway through his journey across his home, however, he narrowed his eyes as his sense of smell picked up on something familiar. He followed the trail of mouth-watering nostalgia and ended up in the kitchen where it originated from, but as he spotted Emma, the smell of food was pushed to the back of his mind.

"You're still in my house?"

"Hi! Good morning!" She looked over her shoulder, the kitchen island creating some distance between them, "Did you sleep well?"

With all the curtains drawn open, soaking the kitchen in sunlight, he was granted a much better look at her today. Those green eyes were twanged with a little gold around the pupil, the orbs framed and beautifully contrasted by thick dark lashes. Her hair was a rich coffee tone, parted to the side and falling straight, passing her shoulders by a few inches. Her lips were a highlight feature, pouty and rosy, giving her the appearance of a doll more than anything. It was the slight golden tone of her skin that pulled everything together, giving her an incredibly exotic look that confused him. He was pale and anything compared to him would be tan, but he still considered her rather fair, the sun just kissing her.

Typically he was able to tell races apart, but this was unlike anything he was used to seeing. Although he looked for clues, no one feature gave anything away, everything having been blended together so well. She definitely wasn't white and definitely not black either, but definitely a mix of the two; he knew she had to be biracial.

He imagined, with looking the way she did, she got away with a lot.

"I made breakfast for you," The plate was set on the table, instantly louring him in. He examined the two stuffed crepes, the presentation spectacular as one stacked over the other at an angle, topped off with a dollop of sour cream and a small parsley leaf.

" _Blinchiki_?"

"Yup!" She offered him a knife and fork.

The utensils were accepted, some of the ground beef crumbling out as he cut through one. He was taken by surprise by the first bite and the remainder of it had filled him with a deep, _deep_ pleasure. The seasoning was on point and the recipe authentic to a traditional Russian blinchiki. It was finished in record time, the plate clean and void of even a microscopic crumb.

"Did you like it?" The fairy enquired, her hands clasped behind her back holding onto the spatula.

The empty plate was slid across the island towards her, "I want more,"

"Really?" Emma appeared slightly taken aback, but as he continued standing there with the knife and fork still in hand, she beamed and got a move on, "I can make some more!"

The seconds were devoured akin to the first one, his blank plate being sent to her once again in request of thirds. Mixing bowl under her arm, she whisked the fourth or fifth pancake batter in haste while watching him eat, his immense appetite working faster than her cooking and preparation skills. The next and final batch was served, the redhead having long forgotten about lifting weights or even eating in moderation for that matter.

A breakfast of this calibre, he had not had in years. It had blown his personal cook's cooking out of the water. He leaned against the island in satisfaction and reached for the glass of juice she had fetched him. It was partway through the drink when his eyes fell on the stick in her hands as she stood near him. Tala frowned, lowering the glass, "Don't start with that again,"

"But I have to grant you -" She was interrupted as he immediately walked off.

"You need to leave. I've let you stay here long enough,"

"What if I can prove it to you? I can take you anywhere you want to go today,"

"Fine," He stopped abruptly in the living room, "Go ahead,"

"Really!" She grinned, "You mean it!"

"If you want to make a fool out of yourself one last time before I escort you out, then so be it,"

"Okay! Where would you like to go?"

"I don't care,"

"You have to give me at least some idea of where you wan-"

"I don't know. Some place with trees," The vague destination was provided with sarcasm.

"Okay. Hold my hand," She quickly interlaced her fingers through his without waiting for him, "Ready?" As he rolled his eyes, she waved the wand with her other hand, "Twinkle, twinkle little star, take us somewhere really far!"

As expected, nothing transpired and Tala appeared rather bored. He couldn't wait to toss this lunatic from his home. For good this time – he'd consider a legal restraining order if need be. But as his two red bangs swayed, he creased his brows at the sudden stream of air. Then, it got stronger, his blue orbs looking around in confusion as things began to topple over, papers flying around, the TV falling off the wall.

"Sorry, sorry! I'll get you another TV!"

But he was much too entranced by the phenomena around him. He blinked just once, finding himself in midair somewhere in the sky when he opened them. There was a curvy stream of murky water below surrounded by heavy forestry on both sides. Above him, a big black...hole? It zapped closed, disappearing, and the sensation of falling hit him instantly, giving him butterflies.

She had started screaming long ago, a typical deafening high-pitched girly scream, requesting the Lord have mercy and for Jesus to save her every few seconds.

He didn't think anything could save them as they neared the trees, the water no longer visible from this vantage point. He plunged into the greenery and leaves brushed against him before he stuck his hand out catching a lucky branch, his other hand holding onto her while she held onto her wand. A hissing sound made him look upward, turquoise eyes widening at the sight of the slithering snake ready to sink it's fangs into him. He released the branch, choosing instead to fall to his death than to be poisoned.

Several branches and twigs snapped along the way until he landed flat on his back, an arm covering his face as he caught the glint of the wand falling towards him. He removed his arm only to realize the worst was yet to come as Emma was still airborne. While his body cushioned the blow for her, she landed on him with crushing force, rendering him useless for any woman who ever wanted to carry his child.

"Whoa! Yeah!" She got on all fours and hovered over him, "Let's do that again!"

Tala glared at her before shoving her off of him and rolling over to one side with a groan, grabbing his crotch in pain.

* * *

 **A/N –** Chapter was rushed, sorry. Wanted to get a move on with the plot! Shit's about to get interesting (I hope lmao)! What do you guys think so far?

 **Thankyou to...**

 **Miley –** Hi! In terms of length, I am not entirely sure but I want to say rough about 30 ish chapters, give or take a chapter or two. If you've read my other stuff, you'll see that my stories are usually long haha. I don't plan to do that with this one though (this will be a more one dimensional story compared to my other work). Kai will make an appearance! But he will not be a main character – if you are interested in KaixOC, you will like my story Exiled. Hope you're doing well!


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

"Welcome to the Amazon Rainforest!"

After having gone through so many events all at once, Tala was disoriented. He picked himself off the ground and looked around him, unable to tell whether this was a dream or reality. It was dead quiet here, other than the sound of insects and birds. He looked up along the length of a tree, never having seen one that was so tall.

"What do you think, Tala?"

The redhead snapped out of it but had to do a double take by her change of outfit consisting of a ripped cheetah printed top, an immensely short matching skirt with the rip occurring at a slant, and black sling back heels. He looked her up and down with a quizzical gaze.

"I wanted to be dressed appropriately for the occasion,"

He shook his head and went back to checking his surroundings, the humidity and extremely hot temperature making him perspire, "So you're really a fairy then..." It was muttered quietly, mostly to himself, but she had heard the statement.

"You bet I am!"

Other enquiries began to consume Tala and his hand reached out reflexively, cautiously poking her exposed midriff, "Are you human?"

Her mouth parted in obvious offence and she took a step away from him whilst pulling at her short crop top with no avail, "Of course I am!"

"Fine,"

"Some of us are just born with, you know, kind of like a sixth sense. That's all it is,"

"Then how come no one knows about fairies?"

"Because most people with five senses would react the way you did. I had to show you only because I'm here on an assignment,"

"To give me three wishes?"

"Yeah,"

Tala bent down to inspect a strange looking insect. He picked it up in sheer fascination, letting it crawl over his palm, "Why me?"

She looked at him sheepishly, "It's a long story,"

"I have time," He rested his hand closer to the ground allowing the bug to descend to its original habitat, "Take me home and tell me,"

"Oh, no I can't,"

"Why the hell not? You proved you could take me somewhere and I believe you now, so take me back to Miami,"

"There are rules, Tala. The transport spell can be used once every three days. That's why I couldn't take you anywhere yesterday, because I used the transport spell to get to Miami and I had to wait another day before I could use it again,"

He retrieved his cell phone, not surprised by the out of range sign that had popped up. Other than that, he wasn't going to get any kind of signal out here, rendering the iPhone useless, "You're telling me we're stuck here for three days?"

"Yup!"

"And of all the places, you brought me to the Amazon?"

"You said a place with trees,"

"I only said that because – never mind," The redhead exhaled out loudly, looking towards the sky. That was, if he could _see_ the sky. There were too many trees and leaves blocking his view, though in this heat he appreciated the shade.

He began walking, Emma quickly falling in stride with him, "So where are we going?"

"I have no idea," The stroll was extremely short lived, however, as she emitted a piercing scream supplemented by several repetitions of his name. He quickly glanced over his shoulder to catch her jumping around from one foot to the other, one hand over her mouth, and the other pointing towards the ground. The culprit of her terror appeared to be a scorpion, "Relax. It's going the other way,"

Her nose wrinkled in revulsion, "But Tala!"

Only when he offered his hand in assistance did she seem convinced, carefully walking _way_ around it. Her lack of experience in this setting was apparent and he acknowledged the need for guidelines.

"Don't touch anything," She was a small girl, he noted, her height ceasing a few inches below his shoulders sans high heels, "Trees, leaves, animals – nothing. Understand?"

"Got it!"

Their walking commenced again, "In the meantime, you can tell me what happened,"

And so the 'long story' was recited, the redhead offering her a strange glance or two every so often, " – the conversion spell, the duplicating spell; there are many different kinds. I'm pretty good at the transport spell and certain levels of the materialization spell,"

"Levels?"

"Yeah, the materialization spell has different levels, you know, from something as small as clothes or something big, like a house. I can use the spell anywhere from every three seconds to three months, depending on the item,"

Tala picked up on the keyword. Or number, rather: three. It seemed that everything worked in threes in the fairy world, hence him being eligible for three wishes. He paused abruptly, irritated as Emma walked right into him from behind, "Did I use up one of my wishes by coming here?"

"Oh! No!" She laughed, "You still have three,"

"And I can have anything I want?"

"As long as you keep it simple,"

"Why do I have to keep it simple?"

"Well. Because," She was at a loss of words, "Simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication,"

Tala's brows gathered in confusion, "What?"

"I can take you _anywhere_ you want to go. You can go to three different places! Wouldn't you love that?"

"I get it now," He sneered, shoving some plants out of the way as he walked past them, "You only want to use spells you're good at to get this over with," Like hell he was going to waste three wishes on travelling. It was after having walked around for a while that he turned to her, "I'm hungry,"

"Me too," She rubbed at her uncovered tummy, "What are we having?" He gawked at her, his eyes moving to her wand in indication, "Oh yeah! Good thinking. Okay, let's see,"

"Wait; this isn't going to count towards my wish, is it?"

"This will be in service of the part where I had to prove to you that I'm a fairy, so no. Anyways," The wand was waved, "Trick or treat, smell our feet, give us something good to eat!"

Tala was unimpressed, "That doesn't sound very appetizing,"

"Wait for it..."

So he did, the sounds of the rainforest around him only intensifying as they both silenced themselves.

"There!"

Tala's gaze followed the direction of 'there', spotting a picnic basket hanging off the branch of a tree numerous meters above ground, "Good. Now get it _down_ ," He heard her clear her throat with the wand in the air, but no spell verbalized, "You can get it down, right?"

"Yeah! Piece of cake! Don't you worry, Tala, I got your back!" And after having literally patted him on the back, her hand quickly recoiled with a nervous chuckle, intimidated by his glare.

With his arms folded over his chest, the Russian watched as a bunch of 'spells' left her mouth, requesting the basket be delivered to them, "Open sesame! Shazam! Go basket go!" _Obviously_ nothing. Her bottom lip was pushed out in a last ditch attempt, a longing arm stretched outward as she looked up at the tree, "Baby come back!"

"Fuck it," He had had enough of the ridiculousness. It was not a tree he could climb, the first branches available several feet up. He doubted the basket could be knocked down with stones. His beyblade had been left at home, a regretful move as it would have come in handy now. He thought of Wolborg; the wolf must've been searching for him by now along with the rest of his staff at home.

"What now?"

Tala ignored the question, their stroll continuing. He raised a hand to his forehead when sunlight suddenly poured on him, marking the end of trees and the beginning of the water. Rocks and soil were visible, implying its' shallow depth. Moreover, it was teeming with potential food.

Emma stood nearby, but remained quiet and unmoving like he had gestured her to do so. She watched him crouch down slowly, eventually laying over the bank, one hand very stealthily hovering over the water and then –

 _SPLASH!_

She jumped at his sudden movement, a decently sized catfish writhing in his grip when he drew back from the water.

"I need two things from you," He dropped the fish on the ground, her attention on it instead of him, "Give me a knife and matches,"

Green eyes peeled away from the trashing fish, "Do you _wish_ for a knife and matches?"

"No!" Came the immediate protest, "I just caught us lunch with my bare hands so unless you want to starve, I suggest you give me what I'm asking for. I kept the request as small as possible, so you have no excuse to mess up this time,"

And she hadn't messed up, proving herself useful for once. The knife and box of matches were handed over to him. He got a small fire going, accepting her assistance in creating a very primitive and makeshift grill using skinny branches levelled over some rocks that centered the flame.

Then, it was time for the main deed. Emma cringed when he put the fish out of its misery, killing it quickly and painlessly. His turquoise orbs shifted to her momentarily before progressing with his work, filleting the fish as best as he could with the skin still on. A little while later they were feasting.

It was unusual for him to eat like this; with his hands and without a plate while sitting on a small log and out in the open. He was surprised however, when he found himself quite enjoying it. The Amazon was serene, so different from Miami and Moscow, and the white noise of wildlife was rather peaceful for Tala. The night time brought with it a different kind of tranquility. It was pitch black, his sights unable to pick up his own hand in front of his face. The real spectacle of all, he decided, was the black canvas that was the sky littered so vividly with a billion tiny silvery dots. He could never experience this in the light polluted Miami or any other city for that matter.

"Tala," Emma's nose pressed up against his shoulder blade, her fingers tugging at the hem of his shirt from the back, "I can't see anything,"

"I'm trying to find a safe place for the night," Ultimately there was no 'safe place', just places with less danger. He used the glow from his phone again, the battery in the last threads; hers' had died long ago, sometime during when the Sun was still up. A boulder was noticed, part of it planted into the ground, the rest of it sticking out like an iceberg in water.

But as he claimed the entire surface to sit on with his feet up, she appeared apprehensive, "What about me?"

"Right here," He tapped the vacant space between his legs.

She had naively climbed on, sitting perpendicular to him with both of her legs thrown over one of his. The wand had been tucked on the inside of the side of her bra for safekeeping and her hands clasped together resting on her own lap while one side of her face was squished against his chest.

Soon, he heard the sound of her shoes scraping against the rock, "Keep your feet on the rock," He stuck an arm under her knees and pulled them back up, "If shit starts crawling up your legs, you're going to freak out," There was an incoherent mumble in response, indicating she had already started dozing off.

He would too, soon, but for now, he wanted to enjoy the night sky full of constellations.

* * *

 **LIME/LEMON.** It is a high possibility that this story will have this. The rating may go up. In the meantime, let me know how you are enjoying this! Emma's character is still developing (over the course of chapters) and so is Tala's.

 **THANK YOU TO...**

 **Senie**

 **PREACH –** I actually made blinchiki last week! It was great! :P You should try it. It is similar to a samosa, if you are familiar with what that is.

 **Miley Agrawal –** Welcome to Fanfiction! Kai will make a short an appearance soon :P


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX**

"AHHHHHHHH! TALA!"

The 26 year old woke up with a start by the sound of shrieking and what felt like a hand constantly slapping at his chest.

"GET IT OFF ME! GET IT OFF ME! GET IT OFF ME!"

Tala looked down at her jerking leg, which had indeed slipped off the rock sometime during the night and served as an open invitation to unwanted guests. Emma screamed again as the hairy tarantula crawled further up her bare leg, nearing her knee. He clamped a hand over her mouth, ceasing the bloodcurdling scream that made him deaf in one ear.

"Shut up," Her eyes went so wide they nearly reached her brows, her nose breathing out hot air just under his finger, "For the most part, tarantulas are harmless," He reached for the massive black and brown bug, pausing momentarily as it made further ascent making her squirm and letting out a muffled squeal in horrification, "Hold still," It was pinched from the top and then carefully placed on the ground where it dashed away somewhere, camouflaging with the colours of the rainforest.

"Thank you," She got off him and stood, taking out her wand, "Good morning, by the way! Did you sleep well, Tala?"

He shrugged, "I slept okay,"

"I slept like a baby!" Emma stretched, "You're so comfortable to sleep on, even better than my hug pillow! Can we do that again tonight?"

"No," He had already started walking, wiping trails of sweat from his forehead, "Emma, I'm hung –"

"Way ahead of you!"

Tala raised a brow at the slice of something yellow she offered him, "What is this?"

"Mango," She held out the rest of the fruit, having peeled the reddish orange skin off with the knife that was materialized yesterday. The fruit must have been as well, for he did not see any mango trees around. They probably did not exist around here anyway.

He took a bite of the sugary fruit, its' juicy flesh diminishing his hunger and quenching his thirst. His empty palm was stretched towards her, his request for more mango being fulfilled while their trek continued, "How come you were able to get us food today, but not yesterday?"

"It doesn't always work,"

"So you need more practice," Came the conclusion. It was obvious, especially after her failure to obtain her fairy licence through the written exam.

"I hardly ever materialize food. Usually its clothes,"

The redhead looked over his shoulder, her outfit of scarce fabric still on display, "I can see that," He decided, however, the combination had gone rather well with her mixed features and skin tone, upping her exotic vibe.

"I also travel a lot," It had explained her _partial_ expertise in the transport spell, "Hey! Look!"

He stopped, his line of vision following hers', sporting a rare smile at the small animal hanging upside down on a nearby tree branch munching on leaves, "It's a sloth,"

"Whoa! Cool!" The brunette took a step forward, "Do they bite?"

"No,"

"Can I touch it, then?"

"Go for it," He stood close and watched her pet it on the head a few times before letting it climb on her shoulders, "They're pretty stupid. He'll fall right off you if you're not careful,"

"Oh," She braced a defensive arm around the sloth, "Can we keep him?"

"Don't be an idiot," Tala took the opportunity to pick up the animal, tilting his head back slightly as it's' limbs reached out for his face, "He belongs here. The rainforest is his home," Then he raised him to one of the branches again, leaving him alone in his natural habitat.

They had stumbled across other creatures and critters, the redhead most fascinated by one of the most iconic animals of the Amazon Rainforest. The tiny vibrant green frog with red eyes, orange feet, and blue sides sat at the finger tips of two of his fingers. In the meantime, Emma crouched behind him while taking a peek at the frog. Her irrational fear was made even more obvious when he felt her jump slightly when the frog leaped off his finger. He stood up, annoyed as she continued to cling on to him.

"Stop," He shook her off, "It's too hot,"

"But Tala," Her voice had become quiet while she remained behind him, her head poking out from the side of his arm, a lone green eye unconcealed, "There's something over there,"

"Where?"

"There,"

" _Where_?"

A finger was lifted and directed in a more specific direction, "It's looking right at us..."

Tala squinted in an attempt to see better through the trees and leaves, a yellowish eye indeed staring back at him. A low growl, unlike anything he had ever heard before, made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, truly instilling fright into him. It moved, the furry printed limb of the jaguar finally exposed.

Documentaries had not prepared him for this event.

The redhead moved an arm around his back feeling around for her hand, grabbing her by the wrist upon finding it. He tried to distinguish the various sounds of the rainforest before making a quick move, the fairy practically being hauled as he made a run for it. He pulled her up hastily with the one arm when she tripped, his workouts proving useful. Then, as they found themselves on the precipice of a waterfall, she slowed down again. The rushing sound of the fall was horrifying enough, the mistiness at the foot appearing rather uninviting. It resembled nothing like picturesque waterfalls in posters and vacation advertisements; this looked like suicide.

Emma took a step back, "I can't do it,"

He didn't need to verbalize that she didn't have a say in the matter, his linked hand around hers' forcefully yanking her down as he made the jump. They plunged into the murky liquid at the bottom of the waterfall and surfaced just in time to catch the jaguar standing at the edge of the cliff where they had been just seconds ago.

"That was way too fucking close,"

"That was way too fun!" She floated in front of him, "Let's do it again!"

Tala gave her a lame look, "You're a moron," He then swam to the shore, soon realizing that coming out of the water only brought on another dilemma. A black _thing_ had stuck itself onto his arm. One look at her and she was covered in them as well! She hadn't noticed, however, only walking closer to him and gasping at the fat slug-like thing on his arm.

"What is that!"

"Leeches!" His t-shirt was discarded quickly to unveil the rest that were feeding off him. But something wasn't quite right. That high-pitched scream that was usually emitted in the presence of bugs and insects should've gone off by now; this situation was perfect for one of those.

Tala looked towards her as she gaped at his leech-infested chest prior to looking down at herself. The screech that he was waiting for had been replaced by a different kind of trauma this time as green orbs rolled to the back and she toppled over to the side from the loss of consciousness. It had occurred so abruptly that he didn't have the time to catch her. Nonetheless, he scurried to where she lay on the muddy ground and lingered over her, picking the bloodsuckers off of her visible skin. He felt especially awkward about those that were hiding underneath her clothing, earning him a whimper when her senses started to return.

"Don't look yet," He warned as his fingertips came into contact high up on the insides of her thighs as he turned her around and flipped her skirt over where he got rid of a few more intruders, "Just keep your eyes closed," Finally, he removed the last one adhered to one of her bum cheeks just underneath the lace hemming of her underwear, "Done,"

"Really?" She muttered and flopped onto her back by herself, her lids still mildly droopy.

Tala spared her a glance before sitting next to her and tugging the leeches off of himself, "Still think that was fun?" And as she shook her head, he concurred, "Yeah, thought so,"

The remainder of their day was spent within that area, mostly in a state of exhaustion, and he dozed off when she promised to keep watch at one point. Only for a few minutes, he had told himself, but by the time he arrived back to reality the sun was already setting.

Blinking several times, he looked around and noted his state of solitude. Then it hit him. Tala propped himself up on his elbows, his eyes widening at the fairy's absence.

"Emma?" Did she leave? Was she eaten? Why her? He had more meat on him! How the hell was he going to get home? "Emma!"

Nothing.

* * *

 **IMPORTANT INFORMATION:**

 **RATING –** It has been decided, the rating of this story is going up to an M. There will be lemon/lime in future chapters. Read at your discretion! I will switch the rating for the next chapter so you will have to click on 'Filter' and select 'M' to find this story.

 **RACISM –** There may be light hearted 'racism' in terms of affectionate nicknames, so if you are overly sensitive to this kind of stuff, you are better off not reading this story. My name ain't Ms. Controversy for nothing! There will also be race issues within the story that won't be as light hearted. As you are all aware, Emma is a mixed character (half black, half white) and should anything transpire between her and Tala, it will be an interracial relationship (and these will be written based on personal experiences as someone who has been in multiple interracial dates/dating/relationship/whatever you want to call it).

 **RELIGION –** Any mentions of religion and religious _stuff_ will be exhibited to the best of my ability! Feel free to comment on any corrections that may need to be done in future chapters. Other than that, again, if you are offended by religion/religious stuff (whether you are for it or against it), this story is not for you.

 **LENGTH –** I don't know exactly how long this story will be. It will be as long as it takes me to write all the events. For now I can say it will definitely be more than 20 chapters.

 **REVIEW –** Do review. If you are familiar with my style then you will know that I enjoy carrying conversations with my readers. It's always a pleasure getting to know you on a personal level. I have a friend of over 10 years whom I engaged with through from FFNET and we keep in touch to this day through Facebook! You know who you are if you are reading this! Haha :P

 **And now, xoxo to...**

 **Miley Agrawal –** There is so much more to come :P


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

Pulling his t-shirt over his head, which had dried by now, Tala rushed into the forested area behind him. Footprints on the ground indicated she hadn't been eaten like he had originally thought. The trail faded as the ground became less muddy and more solid, making him pick a direction blindly.

"Em –" He paused, spotting her backside, the leopard printed top and bottom unmistakeable along with the cinching of her small flaunted waist, a single bead of sweat rolling down the slope of her spine. The scene, however erotic it may have been for another man, appeared to do nothing for the redhead as he marched towards her in uncontrolled rage.

She was grabbed by the shoulder and forced to turn around, seeming frightened at first thinking it was a wild animal. But she was rather content to see him, a massive grin plastered on her lips, "Hi Tala!"

"Where the fuck did you go?"

"I was right here," Emma nodded to something behind him, "Look,"

He glanced over his shoulders, eyes narrowing at the fairly large tent situated in a very small clearing, "Whose is that?"

"Ours'!" She beamed with a wave of the wand in indication, "Took me a few tries," And with that statement, Tala was quick to note various objects strewn within the vicinity including string, a flower pot, and even a spare tire, "Do you like it? Let me show you inside!" Suddenly, the hand that had grabbed her was being used to pull him.

"Hey," He yanked her back, "Don't go running off again, it's not safe. I need you to stay where I can see you, understand?"

"Okay!" Emma nodded enthusiastically before tugging at him again, "Can I show you the tent now? You'll love it! It has pillows and blankets and silk sheets and a dream catcher and a mosquito repeller and a small light and..."

 **x x x**

Mariah Wong popped her sunglasses further down the bridge of her nose, "I see Hilary and Kai,"

"And there's the midget," Bryan added from his seat behind the wheel of his Range Rover. Hilary, Kai, and Ian all strolled out of the airport, the former two returning from their honeymoon, and the latter travelling from Boston, Massachusetts. Bryan and Mariah had road-tripped it from Chicago, agreeing to pick up the remainder of travellers at Miami's airport.

They were here for the next annual BBA tournament!

Hi's, hello's, and hn's were exchanged, along with emphatic hugs courtesy of the two girls. The group had gotten incredibly close over the years; it was safe to say they were practically like family now.

"So," The White Tiger looked at the three passengers in the backseat through the rear view mirror as Bryan continued the drive to Tala's house where they would also meet Spencer, "How was Turkey, lovebirds?"

"It was beautiful!" Hilary exclaimed and proceeded to share details of their trip, "I have so many pictures,"

"No shit," Bryan rolled his eyes. After all, Mariah was constantly on her phone on _Instagram_ , showing him the numerous pictures Hilary kept uploading, "Yo midget, how's the doctorate going?"

"Not too bad. I'm writing a paper on star clusters,"

"Sounds..." Mariah looked repulsed, "...interesting. Anyway, did any of you hear from Tala? I texted him and Spence to let them know Bryan and I got here, like, _hours_ ago. Only Spence replied,"

"Weird," Ian piped in, "Tala hasn't been picking up my calls since the day before yesterday either. His voicemail just kicks in,"

"Probably just busy,"

Finally, Bryan pulled into the glorious estate, leaving the car in the roundabout. They all stood by the entrance, Kai doing the honours or ringing the bell. Soon, the door swung open, one of Tala's security personnel standing before them resembling something out of _Men in Black_.

"Hi," Hilary greeted, "Tala invited us over for lunch today?"

"Mr. Ivanov is out of town,"

"Out of town?" Ian raised a brow, "That's impossible. He knew we'd be coming today,"

"Mr. Ivanov did mention your arrival several weeks in advance, however, he is out of town,"

"Well where the hell did he go?"

"He did not say. He left two days ago,"

Hilary crossed her arms over her chest in irritation while Mariah made a noise of frustration, "What a dick!"

"Well," Spencer popped out of nowhere behind the group, "Looks like I'll be hosting lunch then. Let's go, idiots, I'm starving."

Unbeknownst to them, Professor Marlon was among the group as well. Under the invisibility spell, of course! After calling Emma several times on her phone with no response, he had decided to investigate. But after hearing that Tala was suddenly away as well, he pulled out his phone and checked the Fairy Network app. Once the location of Emma's wand was tracked, he creased his brows, "The Amazon Rainforest? Hmm, maybe that was what he wished for..."

Content with the both of their whereabouts, the instructor walked right into Tala Ivanov's kitchen to fix a cup of coffee for himself, his spell shielding him from the staff members of the household that walked right by him.

 **x x x**

Emma was right. The tent had been pleasant, coalescing nature and the comforts of modern life. It was large and she had made it rather luxurious, the floor made of thick padding and then covered in a sheet of silk. Tala couldn't even count the number of pillows that had been materialized.

He lay on one comfortably, his hands tucked behind his head. She had gone to sleep the minute they entered the makeshift housing, evidently worn out from nearly being eaten by a jaguar, feasted on by leeches, and other arbitrary adventures that came with the Amazon.

Blue eyes shifted to the right, some amount of space having been left between them. Her limbs were spread out like a starfish, her choice in position for slumber as chaotic as her fairy skills. Her heels had been discarded somewhere close to the entrance of the tent and the wand had been loosely held in one of her hands. Curious, the redhead reached over and pulled it out of her unsecure grasp and examined it with the aid of the small solar powered light that hung from the ceiling. It was just a stick. A not too long, thin, and very plain golden metal stick. It wasn't very heavy either, weighing less than his cell phone. A few minor dents were spotted from wear and tear. How could something so basic be so powerful?

Tala leaned over to situate the wand under her pillow, in the process noticing a yellowish greenish smudge of some sort on her shoulders. Probably dirt, he concluded as his thumb grazed over the area just above her collarbone in an attempt to clean it off. But it didn't come off and instead she recoiled at his touch, like it caused discomfort. The fresh bruise had been his doing, its formation occurring when he had roughly clutched at her after she left him.

An older contusion on her arm caused him to purse his lips together as he realized he had left marks on her in more than one place. None of them were deliberate, but even so, he found himself staring at the palm of his hand with a frown.

There was abrupt movement next to him and he looked over to find that she had changed positions, now flopping to her front and in another strange position where her arms stretched off the pillows and one leg nearly kicked him. Tala rolled his eyes and switched off the small light, calling it a night and falling asleep himself.

* * *

 **Well, there you have it! The others have finally made an appearance! Drop me a line in your review! Also, rating has now been changed.**

 **Thankyou to...**

 **Guest –** Thank you for your concern, however, it was noted in the summary that the rating would be changed during the next chapter (this chapter). The rating has now been changed.

 **Miley Agrawal –** I almost fainted from just picturing the leeches on them! So gross! Lmao! I'm terrified of bugs!

 **Tryptamine –** Where do I begin? You are definitely an extremely faithful and loyal reader, I am so, so, so grateful. I read all of your reviews for Exiled and you have no idea how happy it made me! Thank you so much! I don't get reviews like yours' anymore (long ones where you guys engaged with me, talk to me about your life, tell me your fave parts in the stories, etc). It was a taste of something I hadn't experienced in a LONG time, something FFNET has lost. No one leaves reviews like that anymore! It was such a pleasure to read! This story is loosely based off a movie called "A Simple Wish"! Have you ever heard of it? In terms of Russian cuisine, I researched and have tried (and cooked!) a few meals! I actually made blinchiki after I wrote about it haha it was really good! Kind of like a Russian version of the Indian samosa. And yes, there will be no filters! Well, maybe some haha!


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

Tala blinked a few times, waking up from a good night's sleep that was much needed. For sure he had slept in generously. He remained on his side and took in the intense heat that the new day had brought. He had expected to experience rain by now, hence 'rainforest'. Alas, there was none.

There was something pressed up behind him and he could feel a consistent exhale on his back. His blue eyes shifted downwards, noting Emma's arm and leg thrown over his body, essentially spooning him. He glanced over his shoulder until he lay on his back, the movement causing the fairy to stir and wake up. She smiled, propping a part of herself up on his chest.

"Good morning, Tala!"

He raised a brow, "All this space in the tent and you decide to sleep right next to me?"

"Yup!" Her chin rested in her palm while her feet flailed in the air, "You're so cosy!"

The Russian studied her; her appearance was a little more youthful than Hilary and Mariah and – dare he think of his cheating ex – Julia. He estimated her to be in her very early 20s, probably a college student. A ray of sunlight had entered through a netted area of the tent, skimming across one of her eyes and leaving the other in the dark, creating an interesting effect. No doubt they were beautiful, the manner in which the gold surrounded the pupil and the gradient of green and teal thereafter only to be locked away by a darker ring around the eye. They were awfully foreign to him – he had never seen anything like them.

The fairy's head tilted, "What?"

"Nothing. You have nice eyes,"

Her cheeks flushed and she giggled and then her hands covered up her face whilst she mumbled a quick 'thank you' and a 'you too'. He rolled his eyes, though had difficulty from stopping the small chuckle escaping his mouth, amused by her bashfulness.

When things finally settled down, she reached for her wand, "We get to go back to Florida today!"

"I want to spend a few more hours here,"

Emma looked stunned, "Really?"

"I like it here," Tala prepared to sit up, gesturing her off of him.

"So do you _wish_ to stay here?"

"No! It's not part of my wish," He unzipped the entrance of the tent, "Just give me more time,"

"Well it's been three days and you haven't made any wishes yet,"

"That's because I've been too busy looking after your ass in the Amazon to think about them,"

"Oh! I know! I know!" Emma followed the redhead out of the tent, "What about a trip to Russia! I can make it happen!"

"I'm from Russia,"

"Exactly! You can visit your hometown free of charge!"

"You do realize that I can afford over a hundred roundtrips to Russia on my income, right?"

"But I can give you a free trip! Wouldn't that be great, Tala? You wouldn't have to pay a pen –"

"No. Now can you get us breakfast or am I responsible for that too? I'm starving," Unfortunately he had been responsible for it. He found some kind of purplish fruit he had never seen before. They almost looked like blueberries.

"What is it?" Emma enquired to which he shrugged his shoulders and popped one into his mouth. Her eyes enlarged, "What if it's poisonous?"

The athlete nodded over to the tree he got them from, "The monkeys are eating them," He held a few out to her, "Try it,"

She picked one out of his palm, looking at it closely before taking a nibble, "Tastes like a blackberry," Her features contorted suddenly as if she'd bit into a lime, "It's kind of bitter," Nonetheless, there were a few sweet ones within the bunch and the flavour wasn't so bad, a cross between a blackberry and raspberry with a hint of cocoa as an aftertaste. They strolled around while Tala carried around a branch full of the mysterious berries, the both of them picking them off as they pleased.

For lunch, Emma had expected him to ask her to materialize something but was surprised when he hadn't. She watched him break off a skinny branch, its shape rather straight. Then, with the aid of the knife, he started cutting at the ends to form about five or six sharp prongs.

"Is that to kill the lion?"

"It was a jaguar," Tala corrected before he walked into the hazy waters that came up to his knees, "Don't come in," He warned when he heard footsteps closely behind, "There're definitely leeches in here," It seemed to do the trick as she immediately trailed back and continued waiting for him on dry land. Meanwhile, he stood still in the waters, his eyes watching for any movement. There was plenty. He got the stick ready and let it go at the right moment, the points at the end effectively piercing through a fish. It was pulled off the spear and thrown over his shoulder towards the bank where Emma screamed as it landed near her. After catching another two, he vacated the waters. Like their first day in the Amazon, he killed, filleted, and then grilled the fish. There was an odd sense of reward that came with catching his own food.

"You sure know a lot about this stuff!" The brunette commented while using her wand for a spell. A lemon and salt shaker emerged before the redhead who accepted the ingredients to bring out the flavour of the meal.

"You acquire skills when you serve in the military," And when being part of the Abbey.

"Cool! Did you ever go to war?"

"I was never deployed for military duty outside of the country,"

"Did you like being in the army?"

"I didn't have a choice. A 12 month draft is mandatory for all male citizens 18 and over in Russia. There are some exceptions. I stayed for three years," He sprinkled some salt over his piece of fish, "We can go home after this, by the way,"

And so, after finishing off his meal, it was time to bid farewell to the forests he had grown to love in such a short amount of time. It was certainly a reprieve from all the chaos of the 'real world'. She stood behind him as he carved some awkward looking letters into a tree, "What does that say?"

"My name," He etched in the final letter, "In Cyrillic,"

It perked her interest, "What about my name?"

Tala thought for a moment about how such a westernized name would have been spelled in his native language. Then he raised the knife to the tree a few inches below his name, her mark having been made as a token of her journey to the Amazon Rainforest. She seemed content, her fingers rubbing over the result.

Grinning, she looked over her shoulder, "Ready to go home?" The transport spell was cast, Tala more prepared for the effects than the first time he was subject to it. Twigs tumbled around, leaves swayed, and the breeze picked up further breaking several branches off of trees. The sounds of birds and insects were cut off very abruptly, his eyes widening as he found himself airborne in his Miami backyard a few meters above the swimming pool. It was like zero gravity for a few seconds until the falling commenced.

They plummeted into the pool, the redhead swimming back up and squirting out a mouthful of water while glaring at the fairy, "You've gotta work on the landing," Nonetheless, he was happy to be home, and Wolborg? Even happier.

The wolf practically lost his mind upon seeing his owner, jumping on Tala and taking him down on the ground licking the shit out of his face and howling and whining as if to say 'don't ever leave me again!'. The bit beast had a new favourite as well, his attention from the redhead taken away by Emma's presence. He shook his head as Wolborg ogled her with his tongue out and tail wagging, quickly falling to his side when she began giving him a belly rub. Tala decided to take the opportunity to slip away and take a much needed shower. He was utterly filthy, even the underneath of his nails dark from all the dirt he had been exposed to. But the trip had been a grand experience and he wouldn't have traded it for any other place.

He exited the washroom only to pick up the scents of food. It did not resemble anything that his personal chef would have whipped up. He followed the trail into the kitchen, raising a brow as Wolborg sat at the dining table with a plate of human food in front of him, complete with a knife and fork.

"Hi Tala!" Emma stood by the island wiping away something on a plate before setting it on the table, "I made dinner!"

Tala stared at the square white plate containing what appeared to be something out of an extremely high-end restaurant, What is it?"

"Flank steak roulade with a side of roasted potatoes!"

She had served him three rolled pieces of the steak, their doneness about medium well judging by the colour. The pink in the meat was almost nonexistent. The stuffing was a brilliant dose of colour while the golden brown potatoes off to the side added a mild richness. A small sprig of fresh basil had been included for display.

"The filling is made of parmesan cheese, sundried tomatoes, marinated artichoke hearts, and basil,"

She need not go on; he could have sworn he already felt a piece of drool escape his mouth and drip down his bottom lip once he had taken his seat. He cut into the freshly made hot food, nodding over to Wolborg to signal him to go for it as well. Tala brought the piece of forked steak to his mouth, the aroma of it divine, and the –

"Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts which we are about to receive from thy bounty,"

Half a piece of steak hung out of Wolborg's mouth as he made a funny noise and Tala's food remained millimetres from his face in surprise, disbelief, and awkwardness.

"Through Christ, our Lord. Amen," Emma's head unbowed and her hands unclasped before she finally reached for her utensils. She beamed and glanced over at the redhead in front of her, "Do you like it?"

He gave the fairy a thumbs up as he closed the gap between him and his meal, the taste of it unbeatable and out of this world and oh God was he going to orgasm just from having dinner. It seemed she had been prepared for his appetite – and Wolborg's – this time, informing them seconds were available should they be needed. They were definitely needed, the owner and the animal quarrelling over the final portion.

The wolf growled, his front teeth penetrating through the steak as he pulled it towards him while Tala's fork tugged at it in the opposite direction, the two engaging in classic tug-of-war. It flung to the air from their force and the redhead held his plate out, ready to catch it while calculating it's landing, only to have Wolborg get in the way and catch it in his mouth. The wielder grumbled as the wolf scurried out of the dining area in victory, Emma collecting his empty plate in the meantime to deposit in the sink.

"Psst,"

He was about to leave the kitchen when she gestured him to come closer with a finger. He marched back, standing on the other side of the island, "What do you want?"

Emma grinned, one hand behind her back, the other extended towards him where another steak piece lay in her palm, "Last piece," She whispered.

Tala raised a red brow. Then, without warning of any type, he yanked at her wrist to bring it closer and ate right out of her hand before satisfyingly leaving the kitchen.

* * *

 **POP QUIZ!** Does anyone know what kind of berries they were eating? :P **Hint:** They can be found in Brazil.

 **Xoxo to...**

 **Tryptamine –** The Fairy Network app and Professor Marlon part was almost deleted! I decided to include it in when I uploaded the chapter, so I'm glad you liked it! And thank you! I try my best to make characters and their feelings as realistic as possible! I have to take myself back to certain relationships/dates just to write them. With writing Emma's character, I am forced to take myself back to my very first relationship and recall how I felt, how I acted around him, and how I reacted to certain things, so it is definitely inspired from that point of view. And yes! I am definitely known for being a seed planter, even when I date LOL! People can take it or leave it :P Haha! I'm so glad you caught onto that because I was worried that people may not. Things in Canada are good so far! It is FINALLY hot! After like 10 months of awful winter, we can finally walk outside like a slut LOL! Jk! How's it going on your end?

 **Miley Agrawal –** Thank you for your generous compliment! I try my best! Most are inspired by real life events/experiences/feelings whether its personal or from my friends. As for the rating, there is no lemon yet but there will be in the future which is why I changed it.

 **PREACH –** Haha! I hoped someone would know what a samosa was LOL! The difference between blinchiki (I made it a few weeks ago) and samosa is that the samosa is crunchy and more of a snack (AND SPICY AS HELL!), but the blinchiki is made of a soft crepe/pancake shell and not at all spicy (unless you add it, but I've found that Russian food is not spicy). I know you don't want to work on math (who does?!), but trust me, it will help! Force yourself! I wish I had done that in high school. Btw, the significance of the bruising was to show Tala's (unintentional) roughness and Emma's fragility (and other things which I hope you guys will pick up throughout the story). PS: I don't mind rambling (as you can see from this message lol), I love long reviews!


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER NINE**

After suppertime, save for a few securities that stayed outside the house in guard overnight, the remainder of the staff would usually leave to go back to their own families and homes. This left Tala to fix up one of the spare bedrooms on his own for the fairy. There wasn't much to do luckily, just straighten out the sheets on the bed, that's all. The room was located just down the hall from his room. Looking around and content with the results, he went to find her.

"Emma," He called for her only to furrow his brows as he heard the television from his own room. The redhead pushed the door that had been opened ajar all the way, surprised to find her standing on her knees at the foot of his bed with the remote in her hands.

"You have a TV in your room!" Emma exclaimed, "Look at all the channels! Whoa! I never had a TV in my room before! Hey, adult entertainment! What's that? Let's check it out!"

Tala quickly swiped the device out of her hands, "No!"

She pushed out her bottom lip, "But I'm an adult and I want to be entertained,"

He rolled his eyes. What an idiot she was. He sat on the edge of his mattress and she joined him, this time dressed in pastel pink shorts and a matching camisole of silk material, "The spare bedroom is ready for you,"

She fell backwards, lying on the bed with a laugh, "But I'm sleeping in here!"

"Uh, no you're not,"

"Why not?"

"Because this is _my_ room. Now scram,"

"But why can't we share? We shared when we were in the forest! It was fun!"

"We didn't have a choice back then. Now we do. So go to your room,"

The brunette sat up again, cross-legged this time while her elbow rested on her knee and her chin sat in her palm, "How come you let that other girl sleep in here but I'm not allowed?"

Tala's eyes widened at the remark, "That's because we were – never mind!" He face-palmed, "Fine, you can st –"

"Really! Woohoo! Slumber party!" She immediately reached for a pillow and smacked him across the face with it ignoring his death glare, "Pillow fight!"

Tala's eye twitched in irritation as he was hit over the head multiple times with the pillow, his last nerve eventually snapping at her antics. He threw her onto the center of the mattress and hovered over her, "We're not having a fucking pillow fight,"

Green eyes widened, "Oh! Oh! Can we make a fort then? And then can we watch a movie? Let's watch _Jeepers Creepers_!"

"No," Tala rolled to the left side of the bed and switched off the lights, "Let me sleep. I have to train in the morning," After all, he had missed enough practice. Fortunately for him, she had left him alone. He peeked over his shoulder briefly, her ridiculous position of being sprawled out with one leg entirely off the mattress indicating she had fallen asleep. Soon he had too, but woke up in the middle of the night to find her limbs thrown over him like a hug pillow with her face smushed to his side just under his armpit. What was worse, two thirds of the bed was entirely vacant.

The redhead nudged her, the action futile as nothing changed. He made a noise of frustration, but decided that, perhaps, it wasn't too bad. Her feathery weight was a high convenience and she didn't smell of cigarettes and alcohol and smudge his sheets in makeup like the women he brought home. Besides, by now, Tala had written Emma off as entirely harmless.

He sighed and proceeded to just let her lay on him while he closed his eyes and continued with his sleep. However, come 7 AM when the alarm on the iPhone went off, the beyblader woke up alone. Nonetheless, he had a hunch of her whereabouts when the first floor of his enormous house smelled like a bakery.

"Hi!" Emma acknowledged as he entered the kitchen after freshening up in the washroom, "Good morning! I made you crepe Suzette!"

Although the fork she offered him was accepted, he raised a brow, "Crepe what?"

"Crepe Suzette!" She ushered him to his seat where his fancy breakfast awaited him. Tala was impressed; Emma was never one to skimp on presentation. It appeared that pasta bowls had more than one use as she opted to serve the quarter folded crepe into the pit, the curved edges barricading the vibrant orange sauce. There was a small, round scoop of vanilla ice cream right on top garnished with cooked orange peels and a single strawberry cut in half with its leaf still attached, "Enjoy, Tala! Wolborg and I already had breakfast,"

His fork dove in and cut a piece of the paper thin French pancake, nicking some of the sauce and ice cream with it. It was _so_ good. Her talents in the kitchen were extraordinary, contrasting what he had experienced with ex girlfriends or even Hilary and Mariah's cooking when he was invited over. This was some high quality, five-star restaurant graded, head chef shit.

Tala backtracked his thoughts. Speaking of Hilary and Mariah...he grimaced, recalling their angry text messages he received once his phone had been charged after coming back from the Amazon. His voicemail had been flooded too, courtesy of the remainder of the Blitzkrieg Boys enquiring of his whereabouts. He sent out a mass text, re-inviting them for dinner this evening.

Around 6 PM, the doorbell sounded.

The Russian glanced over shoulder, the fairy in tow, "If anybody asks, you're the new housekeeper,"

"Got it!" She pulled out her wand and waved it at herself just as he opened the door, sparing Tala no time for any...comments.

With the front door fully open, all he could accomplish was to gape at the materialization of her overly sexualized maid outfit instead of greet his guests. The satiny black material was scandalously short and flared, complete with a poufy white lining underneath and a non-functional small white apron. He couldn't decide what was worse – the off the shoulder aspect of the dress exposing her pushed up cleavage or the fishnet stockings with high heels.

Despite his reaction, and the reactions of those standing just outside his home, she emphatically ushered them indoors with a gesture of her arm, "Hi Tala's friends! Welcome Tala's friends! Come in! Don't be shy! There is plenty of room inside for everyone!" Then she scuttled off, disappearing into the kitchen where he assumed she was about to prepare dinner.

"Really?" Hilary rolled her eyes, "An escort?"

The redhead frowned at his friend's wife, "She's the housekeeper, not an escort. Her name is Emma, she works for me,"

"I bet she does," Bryan chuckled while Spencer smirked.

"Did you pick out that outfit for her? You kinky bastard, you,"

"Suck my dick, Spencer,"

They were seated at the dining table shortly, indulging in wine while conversing about Hilary and Kai's honeymoon, Ian's PhD, Mariah and Bryan's road trip, all of Spencer's 'bitches', the new tournament, and the like. Emma had made an excellent server too, cracking opening another bottle of red to supply the crowd.

"More wine, Tala's friend?"

"My name is Kai,"

"More wine, Kai?"

"Hn,"

Tala looked over at Kai across the table pathetically before shifting his aqua orbs to his 'housekeeper', "He means yes," The glass was refilled before Emma disappeared into the kitchen again, the redhead grabbing the opportune moment for elaboration, "Kai, she's not accustomed to your vernacular so cut her some fucking slack. She doesn't always understand things, it takes her some time. She's like a child,"

"Looks like one too," Hilary commented.

Mariah appeared to support the idea, "Yeah, she does look pretty young,"

"Probably 20? 21?" Ian estimated.

The host shrugged, "Probably,"

The White Tiger shook her head, "No, she looks _really_ young, Tala,"

The discussion died down when the brunette returned with everyone's dinner having whipped up something elegant. She set the plates on the table, Spencer smirking as she stood next to him, "Could you pass me the salt, Emma?"

"Yup!" And as she leaned over the table to fetch the seasoning, the blonde Blitzkrieg Boy nodded over to Ian before gesturing over to her now on-full-view lacy undergarment.

Bryan also leaned over, the grin on his face quickly slapped away by Mariah, "What!" His palm cradled one side of his face, "I wasn't looking!"

And Hilary's wifely threat towards Kai was already in the works, "Don't even think about it,"

Tala chucked his napkin holder and stood up, "Emma," He signalled towards the corridors, the area offering privacy, "I want you to change into something else,"

She produced her wand and nodded, "Your wish is my com –"

"It's not my wish. Spencer keeps looking up your dress,"

"Really? Well, what do you think of this?" The lingerie was changed into something else in an instant, "Or this?" The current outfit was traded for something else again, "Maybe this? Or even –"

"Wait," Tala lowered the wand and examined her. Well, damn. With skin like actress _Thandie Newton_ and tresses the colour of rich coffee beans, the reddish orange dress was an extremely flattering tone on Emma. She looked incredibly vibrant; he had never seen anything like her before. It had ended roughly mid thigh and cinched in at the waist with a silk coral sash, the two ends left out loose to one side. Oh yes, definitely a winner, "I like this one,"

"Okay!"

"Now come have dinner,"

And so she had joined the group, an extra chair pulled for her next to the redhead. But as she once again clasped her hands together and lowered her head, the table exchanged awkward glances. None were all that devout, some not following any kind of faith at all. Tala raised a hand to reassure everyone it was not a big deal, "She just wants to say grace. Your participation is optional,"

"Bless us, O Lord," It begun, only Mariah, Hilary, and Ian contributing out of courtesy "And these thy gifts which we are about to receive from thy bounty. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen," And when it finally came to an end, everyone dug into their elaborate display of food. Generous compliments for her cooking were professed before Hilary struck up another conversation.

"So where the hell were you, Tala? Your staff said you were out of town,"

"Yeah," Bryan nodded, "The fuck's up with that?"

Emma's arm shot up in the air, her eyes wide, "I know! Pick me! Pick me! I know this one! We were –" She paused suddenly, squirming and laughing, "Tala that tickles,"

Tala's hand that had been squeezing her thigh under the table in an attempt to get her to shut up immediately shrunk back as Mariah, Hilary, and the Blitzkrieg Boys gave him a funny look, obviously having taken her statement in a very wrong way. Kai's once over along with his crossed arms definitely took the cake though; his expressionless expressions were always priceless.

"No, I wasn't –" The redhead gave the fairy a displeasing look, "Never mind. I was up in Tampa Bay to train. The Mustang broke down on my drive back, that's why I didn't make it back in time,"

While Kai hn'ed, clearly not buying the bullshit story, Hilary had taken it, "You could have asked Bryan to pick you up on the way, you know. Oh well," She smiled and turned to the other brunette, "So Emma, how long have you been housekeeping here?"

"I started as soon as I moved to Florida, less than a week ago!"

"You're not from here?"

"Nope! I'm from Las Vegas!"

"Sin City! Nice!" Spencer nodded in approval, "Why not bartend there? You'd make a shit load of money in tips, a thing like you,"

"Oh, no I can't,"

"Why not?"

"I can't serve alcohol until I turn 21,"

The room fell silent while Mariah glanced over at Tala mouthing a 'told you so' in regards to her biological maturity. Suddenly he felt genuinely nauseated and it was unrelated to the consumption of dinner; Emma wasn't underage, was she? He'd definitely be under legal scrutiny if she was for sharing a bed with her, in spite of its entirely pure nature. It would ruin his beyblading career. He cleared his throat, "You turn 21 soon," A bit of salmon was flaked off with his fork, "Right?"

She nodded with a grin, "Yup! In just three years!"

Typically, Tala was brainy, but today the organ lagged. Upon computing, however, his eyes widened, "You're only _18_?"

 **x x x**

Tala switched off the television in his room, his eyelids feeling heavy. Everyone had left a couple hours ago and Emma insisted of cleaning up regardless of the fact that his staff could do it in the morning. He turned off the bedside lamp and closed his eyes only to open them just as fast when he felt the fairy crawl into the other side of the mattress.

"No," The light was switched back on and the redhead sat up in bed, "You can't sleep here,"

Emma remained on her back and let out a yawn, "How come?"

"You're 18," He was lucky enough that she was _just_ legal, potentially saving him from the law. What a close call! He need not push his luck any further.

She turned to her side, her hands resting underneath her face, "What's wrong with being 18?"

"There is nothing wrong with that. What's wrong is sleeping in the same bed,"

"But I like sleeping beside –"

" _No_ ," He reiterated, "Don't you get how inappropriate this is? I'm 26, you're 18. I'd be going to jail for just shaking your hand if this was last year,"

"But this is this year,"

"You know what?" Tala hopped off the bed and grabbed his pillow, "If you enjoy sleeping here so much, go ahead. I'm sleeping downstairs,"

Emma pouted as he disappeared from the room, but her features brightened quickly when Wolborg claimed the redhead's vacant spot on the mattress for the night.

* * *

 **And so...the controversy begins *clasps hands evilly*. Hope I didn't scare some readers away :P**

 **WINNER OF QUIZ: Tryptamine!** Yes! It was the acai berry! How did you know! Haha! I didn't think anyone would get it!

 **Thank you to!**

 **Tryptamine –** You know, when I first wrote this chapter, I did not include the conversation between Tala and the others about where he was. I only added that in after reading your review! Haha! Also, we live sorta close! I'm in Toronto and we've got a heat wave up here. I love it! And Exiled has been updated! And sorry to have made you hate Julia LOL! She is so easy to be made into a bitch though haha! And someone always has to be a bitch :P

 **Miley Agrawal –** Tala has not made any wishes yet! He still has 3. Thank you! I try to describe the foods as best as I can. They make me hungry half the time just writing them up haha.


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER TEN**

As the 7 AM alarm went off, Tala's hand reached for the phone on the coffee table. He'd slept on the couch for the night. Yawning, he sat up as he heard utensils and pots from down the hall, "Emma?"

As expected, she poked her head out of the kitchen, "Hi! Good morning! Did you sleep well, Tala?"

"Smells so good in here," She moved out of the way as he entered the kitchen and stretched, "What are you making?"

"Bacon and eggs!"

Tala looked over his shoulder quizzically – he hadn't expected something so _plain_ for breakfast. Her 'plain' breakfast had exceeded his expectations, however, when he returned from the washroom. Wolborg moved past him with a piece of bacon dangling out of his mouth while Emma gestured a hand to the empty chair. He took a seat, the set of bacon and eggs unlike any bacon and eggs he had ever seen before. The eggs had been baked in a ramekin and set on the plate next to two perfectly looking bacon strips sprinkled with black pepper. He ended up finding the hidden cheese, tomatoes, and even more bacon as he dipped his fork into the eggs. The eggs were slightly thicker in texture, indicating the addition of milk or cream.

Her definition of bacon and eggs were entirely different from the traditional definition. It was absolutely heavenly.

"You're not required to cook for me, you know,"

"You don't like it?"

The Russian reached for his orange juice while giving her a lame look; what was she, crazy? It was the best, "What I mean is, you don't have to feel obligated to feed me. I already have a personal cook," Who, he remembered, had been rather pissed off by Emma's 'hostile' takeover.

"But I like cooking,"

He supposed that was true. She quite enjoyed getting creative in the kitchen despite the new wave of feminists bidding women to ditch it.

"And I like to cook for you,"

Tala raised a brow just in time to catch her bashful reaction to the confession. She twisted one foot around on the ground while both her hands remained behind her back. He picked up the slight coral in her cheeks even though she looked downward, her dark hair failing to hide a timid smile. He hoped she wasn't developing a crush on him or anything; he was known to garner that kind of effect out of women. After all, regardless of the fact that she was an attractive female specimen, he was much too old for her.

Breakfast soon came to an end. It was followed by his routine gym sesh and then training with Wolborg. He'd spent a little longer in the dish than usual to make up for the missed training due to his 'vacation' to the Amazon. A bead of sweat was swiped away from his forehead, though his body appeared confused as it shivered from his bit beast's cold features. The training room in his basement was covered in snow, strewn in icicles, and he could see his breath, a truly bizarre contrast to Miami's hot and humid climate.

It was hours after lunchtime when he emerged from the basement, taking off his sweaty tee and tossing it on the couch for one of his staff to take care of while he headed to his massive backyard. He stood and absentmindedly watched a few workers water the plants.

"Hello!"

Tala grimaced, his moment of peace and silence cut short by Emma.

"How was training? By the way, have you thought about your wishes yet?"

He began strolling, the brunette following, "Not yet,"

"What about a boat? I can give you a boat. Make a wish! I'll make it happen,"

The redhead was unimpressed, his frown depicting such, "I already have a boat,"

"If you wish for another boat, then you'll have two boats!"

"What will I do with two boats?"

" _Any_ thing you want,"

"You're an idiot. But if it's not too much to ask for, I wouldn't mind a cold be –" Tala paused as a chilled can of beer floated before him, the can dripping from condensation. He reached for it and cracked it open, glancing down at the smiling fairy, "Looks like someone's been practicing."

 **x x x**

The weekend finally rolled by, Kai, Ian, and Bryan partaking in Spencer and Tala's usual outing which consisted of some bar downtown. The guys' night out was short lived, however, crashed by Hilary and Mariah who had finished shopping and hanging out on their own. The brunette ordered a drink for herself while the pinkette kept stealing swigs of Bryan's beer.

"Isn't your mom coming into town?" Ian enquired, earning looks of distaste from the girls.

"Is she really?" Hilary raised a brow, "When?"

Mariah gagged, "I don't even wanna know," She then patted the redhead on the back, "No offence, Tala,"

"None taken,"

"She's so racist,"

Hilary rolled her eyes as if to agree with Mariah, "Every time she sees Kai, she tries to get him to 'reconsider' his 'choices' and find a Russian wife,"

Spencer nodded, looking over at the captain, "It's true. You better get little _Halle Berry_ outta the house before your mom freaks out on her. Seems like a sweet girl, you know, all Christian and shit. Probably reads the Bible before bed every night," He laughed out loud in amusement, "Real nice looking, too. Ass like a black girl, eyes like a white girl, and this ity bity waist," He nodded with a smirk, reiterating the statement, "Real nice, man,"

Ian looked repulsed, "Dude, she's 18," Then he emphasized the fact at hand, "Fresh out of high school,"

The big blonde shrugged, "So what? The bitch is legal,"

"Her name is Emma,"

Spencer chuckled, returning his gaze to Tala, "Why so defensive? You hitting it or something?"

"Wouldn't be surprised..." Hilary whispered, only to grin and run over to her hubby when then the redhead glared at her.

"Stop obsessing over my housekeeper,"

"Hear that?" Bryan joined the ridicule, " _My_ housekeeper,"

"Really?" Tala gave his teammate a lame look, Semantics?"

"Well why'd you hire someone so young?" Mariah asked, "Everyone else that works for you is like 50,"

"She asked for the job. She's starting college soon, she needs the money,"

"So you're telling me," Mariah began with a smirk whilst sitting atop Bryan, "that she just knocked on your door and asked to work for you?"

"That is exactly what transpired,"

The pinkette reached over the small table and touched Hilary's hand as if to say 'get a load of this bull!' before both girls died in a fit in laughter. Tala shook his head, finishing the remainder of his drink. By two in the morning, he arrived home. He was surprised, however, when he opened the door only to be greeted.

"Hi Tala!"

He kicked off his shoes, "Shouldn't you be asleep yet?"

"Wolborg and I stayed up for you!"

He trekked upstairs, "That's not necessary,"

"Oh. Did you have fun? What's Miami like? Are there a lot of casinos?"

"Not as many as where you're from,"

"It rains a lot over here, you know,"

"I know. I _live_ here,"

"It hardly rains in Vegas!"

Tala briefly glanced over at her. The irony of where she was from and how she was as a person was so strange for him. Suddenly he frowned as he caught her on his bed again, "You want to sleep in my room _again_?"

"I always sleep here!"

"Fine," He grabbed his pillows, "I'll be downstairs watching _Netflix_ ,"

"Oh! Oh!" Emma leapt off the bed, a pillow in her hand, Wolborg following as well with a pillow in his mouth, "Me too!"

"No," Tala shoved the fairy back into his room, "You stay up here and I'll stay downstairs – understand?"

"But I want to watch movies too,"

The redhead flicked the television in his room on and clicked on the Netflix option, the feature also accessible from up here, "Knock yourself out. Goodnight."

* * *

 **MINUS THE FAIRY ASPECT...** this story is inspired by true events. I mentioned when I first began uploading this story that it won't be as 'deep' as Exiled, but I take that back. While Exiled gives you a bit of every kind of dilemma (family, friendship, relationship, school, etc), 3 Wishes will focus heavily on relationships and is the story that I will be able to relate with the most. That being said, while Emma is a fictional character and her personality is rather out there (for the purpose of entertainment), she does and will embody traits that (I think) most women have/are experienced/experiencing. Certain dialogues and events are taken straight out of real life (and therefore some things may be offensive to some people so if you're overly sensitive, do not read this story). I am hoping you guys can relate!

 **True Story #1.** In chapter 9 when Tala tries to get Emma to shut up from telling his friends about their trip to the Amazon and she stupidly says "that tickles" is actually based off of my grandparents! It is a well known story within our family. Apparently my grandparents, when younger, were discussing something with their friends and my grandfather was giving more detail than necessary. So my grandmother discreetly pinched him and my grandfather very loudly goes, "Why are you pinching me for while I'm talking?" LOL. I crack up every time my mom retells the story.

 **Let me know if you want more 'True Story's' in later chapters.**

 **Thank you to:**

 **Tryptamine –** I spoil you because your reviews spoil me! I have so much fun reading them! Emma is so cute! HAHA! Btw, I read your review to Dirty Little Secret – that guy sounds like a moron. A real psychopath! Are you two in contact? And were your parents angry when you broke up with him? Also I read your thing about the sex part! So true! And that is why when I read lemons off here and they describe the guy to have a 12 inch dick (NO EXAGGERATION!), I'm like WHAT?! WHERE?! THAT EXISTS?! Did the girl end up with internal bleeding?! Where can I find myself one LOL! And then they constantly orgasm and in missionary too and I'm like wtf? And the guys are ready for round 2 _immediately_ after round 1. Is this for real? Like this never happens to my friends and I! Haha!

 **Senie**

 **PREACH –** The lame part is sometimes I crack myself up writing my own story LOL. I'm such a strange idiot. What kind of court case are they dealing with – does it have something to do with land/property? And I have yet to try a cabbage roll! The concept is a bit strange to me (I mean, rolling something up in a leaf and frying it?) but I would love to try it.

 **Miley Agrawal –** Haha thank you! She is a child at heart :P Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Happy friendship day to you as well!


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

Come Sunday, Tala woke up just before noon. He sat up on the couch he had gone to sleep on and rubbed his eyes before looking around curiously. For the weekend, the house seemed a little too quiet. He had expected Emma's tinkering in the kitchen and Wolborg's incessant howling and running around and terrorizing his staff.

The redhead stepped into the kitchen, a plate left on the island with a plastic covering on top followed by a post it note with _For Tala_ written on it. Definitely Emma's doing, judging by the elaborate breakfast. He lifted the covering slightly, feeling the food with a finger; it was cold, indicating it had been prepared for him a while ago.

He walked around his house, soon realizing that both Emma and the wolf were missing. He slumped back onto the couch and reached for his phone, shooting the brunette a text about her whereabouts. A reply was quick, her message full of emojis: _Good morning Tala :) I'm at church. Wolborg wanted to come with me. Your breakfast is in the kitchen! :)_

Figures. He composed another message to her: _when r u coming home?_ A moment later his phone lit up with a _bing_ sound, Emma's response informing him of her ETA of another hour.

An entire hour without Wolborg harassing him and Emma following him around everywhere? Oh goodie! The Blitzkrieg Boy could practically _smell_ the peace. He heated up his pre-made breakfast and ate in front of the TV then headed to his backyard and circled around his pool once and debated whether to go in or not and then aimlessly looked over the flowers and then checked his phone, the elapsed time causing his piercing blue eyes to widen.

Only 12 minutes had gone by?

Tala scrunched up his face and absentmindedly looked towards the clear skies of Miami trying to recall what life was like before Wolborg. What was he expected to do for the remainder of the hour without the wolf annoying the hell out of him? His property was full of workers today, but in some strange way, he still felt solitary. He looked at his phone again – 16 minutes. He exhaled out loudly; this was the longest he'd gone without talking, or yelling, rather, to someone since his Abbey days.

At last the doorbell rung. The redhead opened the door and was immediately engulfed by Wolborg as he stood on his hind legs and embraced him, licking the side of his face while the tail wagged. Suddenly Tala craved the hour of boredom he'd just experienced all over again. Alas, the attention towards him amplified when the fairy mimicked the beast, claiming the other half of his front.

"Hi Tala!" She looked upward, her chin resting on his chest along with the palms of her hands. Then, as his blues looked downwards at her, Emma moved her head down in hiding, a muffled laugh audible.

"Alright," He tried to shake the both of them off, all while trying to close the front door without falling backwards. As one of the maids walked by staring, he sighed and tried to maintain his balance, "That's enough,"

With a final kiss for his owner, Wolborg ran off, knocking over the maid in the process.

Tala gave the wolf's retreating back a pathetic look before returning his gaze to Emma, "That goes for you too," But as the brunette clung to his t-shirt and sniffed him while tiptoeing, he rolled his eyes, "I get it. I need a shower,"

"But you smell so nice," The fairy took a long inhale in an attempt to define the scent but couldn't quite place her finger on anything particular. He did not smell of cologne or anything equally artificial. It was more like the smell of...clothes. Not fresh laundered clothes either, just _clothes_.

The redhead resorted to manually shoving her aside, "You're so fucking weird. Anyway, I'm going for a swim,"

"Can I swim too?"

"Go for it,"

Her church attire was exchanged for a colour block bikini with blue and aqua accent colours. It was quite playful, the top donning a zipper on the front while the bottoms imitated the pattern with open zippers on the sides, giving off the illusion of two bands around the hip. He found the colours to cooperate with her skin tone very well.

All ready to hit the pool, she beamed, "Race ya!" But as she turned around and ran through his house, his gaze lowered slightly, his brow rising in contrast when he recalled Spencer's description of her behind. The round hunk of tight meat was definitely more than what he was used to seeing. Nothing _too_ big, it was proportionate for her small and skinny frame, and, in the words of his teammate, 'real nice'.

Tala shook his head to rid himself of the thought, mildly disturbed that he was even checking out the ass of an 18 year old. Spencer could have her; after all, the blonde hardly had any boundaries when it came to women, but the redhead sided with Ian on this issue – it was gross.

Changing into some swim shorts, he headed to the pool where Wolborg and Emma had already engaged in water volleyball. He joined them, splitting it up for a 2 against 1 where he played for himself but even so, the wolf and the fairy were no match for the one man army. Partway through the game, Tala could hear a loud rumbling, the footsteps made up of several loud 'thuds'. It was followed by a loud roar and as the redhead turned around, his eyes widened as the mammoth that was Spencer dived into the pool right on him.

While the blonde shook the water out of his hair and laughed, Tala did not appear very pleased akin to Hilary whose dry towels were now entirely wet from Spencer's simulation of a miniature tsunami. The whole group was present, having inviting themselves over to the redhead's house and the leisure game of volleyball.

Emma excused herself briefly, automatically assuming her role as server again. She returned with drinks and mini sandwiches with diverse ingredients, Spencer's perverted gaze glued to her swim suit clad bum as she strolled around the perimeter of the pool with a tray, nudging at Ian to do the same every so often. He wiggled his brows suggestively when the brunette waved at him, his smoothness cut short as the volleyball hit him square in the face.

He growled at Tala on the other side of the net who had made the particular serve, "Eyes on the ball, Spence,"

"He has a point, you know,"

"Shut up, dweeb," Spencer dunked Ian into the water before continuing with the game while Hilary rolled her eyes from the sidelines, sitting atop her husband on one of the chairs.

"They remind me of Tyson and Daichi,"

"Hn,"

"Hi Kai! Hi Tala's friend! Would you like a drink?"

"You can call me Hilary," The Japanese picked up one of the cocktail glasses off the tray, "Thank you, Emma,"

"You're welcome!"

"And for future reference," The brunette continued while lifting a finger towards the pool full of the others, "That's Ian, Mariah, Bryan, and that one there is Spencer. You may want to keep a distance from him," She finished with a chuckle.

"Okay!" Emma nodded, "Thank you, Hilary!"

"No problem," Hilary slouched against Kai as Emma walked off to make an offering to the others, but when she returned to them, this time with a piece of scrap paper and a pen, she looked on curiously, "Yes, Emma?"

"Can you help me, please?"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," The fairy fidgeted with her fingers with her head slightly downward, a miniscule smile barely visible until she looked over at Kai, "You're from Russia like Tala. Can you tell me some of the things you eat there?" She eyed the ground again, her bottom lip between her teeth, "I want to make them for him,"

Amethyst orbs shifted towards the housekeeper, her request unexpected. Nonetheless, Kai grabbed the stationary from her and began scrawling things down, "Some Russian food is pretty bland, but this one," He underlined a particular item, "is his favourite,"

"Oh! Thank you!" Emma repossessed the paper and read over the contents, "This is very helpful!"

Hilary slurped at her drink upon the fairy's departure, "I think she likes him,"

"No, really?"

"Do you always have to be so sarcastic?"

"Get used to it, _wife_ ,"

"Already regretting saying yes,"

"Didn't seem like it last night," The bluenette smirked, "Or this morning,"

"Kai!"

* * *

 **UGH. THIS BITCH.** So I have this friend (I've come to accept that she is actually a frenemy) and she has found herself a boyfriend and they have agreed to get married. Great news! I was genuinely happy for her (for real – she is one fugly bitch with no qualities and a shitty job, never thought she'd get married). Ever since then, I've been subject to rude little comments. A few weeks ago she made the statement 'I'm so lucky I don't have poor parents who won't be able to help pay for my wedding' – her parents are well off, mine aren't, and she is well aware so obviously I took that comment personally. I let it slide. All she talks about are her engagement and wedding rings that her poor boyfriend is working his ass off to pay for. Anyway, we were talking today about wedding photography and then she makes the comment 'I guess you wouldn't know how exciting this is unless you were getting married'. Dafuq? I called her out on it today saying 'why do women getting married have such an ego? Is it because you had nothing going for you and finally feel complete now that there's a man hanging off your arm?'. She didn't take it well of course lol. Whatever. Some of these bitches are so pathetic. End rant.

 **Please read and review! Thank you to...**

 **Tryptamine –** Wha? He is older than me? Only by a few weeks though haha! Holy time flies. Your parents sound so similar to mine when I was dating a dick too. And I have noticed in these lemons no one uses condoms! Like wtf?! Bitch you're 16! Aren't you afraid of getting pregnant?! I was freaking out when I was 20 during any 'accidents'! Jesus. And yes, Emma's character in the last chapter is what a lot of woman can relate to which is why I'm trying to portray that vibe. This chapter too actually. I think we have all gone out of our way at some point in our life to please a man and only get it shoved in our faces. I actually like cooking myself (but I am nowhere near as good as Emma!) and have cooked for guys before. Let me tell ya...you'd be surprised by the number of guys that don't appreciate it! It is shocking! All you hear out of these men's mouths are 'I want a girl that can cook' and when they get one, apparently it's too 'domestic'. I had this one guy who loved Indian food but didn't know how to make Indian food (he was white) and I was more than happy to cook him something. OMG! While I'm in the kitchen making him dinner, he kept making comments such as 'oh are you sure that's how it is?' or 'isn't that too much spice?' or 'but why can't I add ginger?' and all this shit. Like bitch you do realize I'm Indian right? It was so insulting. Needless to say, we did not make it past 4 months. The sex was also horrible (one of the worst I've ever experienced). So yes, Emma's character definitely stems from there haha!

 **Miley Agrawal –** Spencer is pretty out there! Haha! He did not mean it in a racist way though. And yes! I am so glad you can relate Emma to your parents! It is exactly what I am aiming for! This is because women, usually in their first relationship, are very catering for a man (which is normal I suppose since the only experience they have is to see how their mother treats their father). I'm so happy you noticed that!

 **PREACH –** Attempted murder? They are crazy out there! I know my dad also had to deal with this land stuff (his mother left him out of the will after my dad's brother and sisters threatened not to look after her if she gave my dad anything). Are your grandparents staying at a safe place over there? I'd be so scared to go back if I ever experienced something like that. What's more ridiculous is that it's our own family members, people that we are supposed to trust and depend on. Cabbage rolls! You tried them! Now I must try them since you said they are good! Don't the leaves of cabbage rip easily while you are handling them though?


	12. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

Tala tugged at his t-shirt and tried to fan himself while stopped at a red light. It was 100 degrees! Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead, the open window doing very little in terms of comfort. But Miami, Florida was beautiful and he wouldn't trade locations for anything. He looked over at Wolborg sitting in the passenger seat next to him, his head stuck out the window, his tongue out in a friendly fashion though his massive size appeared to deter some of the other drivers and pedestrians.

The iPhone vibrated from its place in the cup holder and the redhead quickly read over Emma's text message to him: _Hi! :) When are you coming home?_

Tala quickly replied with a _omw_ just as the light turned green, prompting him to go. He pulled into his well-off neighbourhood, parking the red Mustang in the roundabout before heading indoors where he anticipated an emphatic greeting in 3..2...

"Hi Tala! I made lemonade!"

He dropped the gym bag on the ground and accepted the cold drink, the first sip serving as an instant reprieve from the weather.

"So," She lifted the discarded gym bag, "How was training?" At least she tried. The redhead raised an amused brow as the brunette tugged at the handle with both hands forcefully, the bag not lifting. She paused for a moment to take a deep breath before pulling again, her heels digging into the ground for leverage as she tried to drag it across the floor. Then she turned around so that the straps were over her shoulder, the attempt causing her to face plant after a few seconds. She got up quickly, grinning, "I'm okay!"

"There are easier ways to try and commit suicide," The Russian swung the bag over his shoulders and took the stairs to the second floor, dumping it by the dresser in his room. He looked at his made bed, the distinctive finishing touches different from the maids, "You don't have to clean up around here, you know,"

"But I like to!"

Tala muttered a 'weirdo' before grabbing a seat on the edge of his bed. The television was switched on and with lemonade in one hand, his other one rubbed at the back of his neck. He felt the fairy crawl over the mattress behind him and lean over one side, "Are you hurt?"

"No, just sore. The team and I trained at the rec center for four hours, maybe five,"

"Oh. Over here?"

His hand recoiled as he felt hers' on his shoulder blade. Her touch was delicate, her fingertips lightly pressing down on the assumed area.

"Lower,"

"Here?"

"Keep going," And as her fingers descended again, he stopped her, "That's good,"

"Okay! Like this, Tala?"

He nodded at her presses and tugs over his tee, "Yeah, it feels good,"

So she continued, standing behind him on her knees while she held him by his shoulders with one hand, the other one relieving the soreness. In the meantime, her eyes were glued to whatever was airing on the TV. Soon, her attention was whisked away by the sound of something spilling. The fairy craned her neck, her green orbs spotting the half-done glass of lemonade tilting in his hands, a portion of the contents now on the floor.

"Tala?" Emma leaned over and reached for the glass, catching his drooping head and closed eyes in the process, "Oh," She mumbled to herself, carefully moving off the bed and slowly lying him down while his feet remained on the ground. A finger was brought to her lips as Wolborg entered the room, "Shhh. He fell asleep. Wanna play go fetch in the backyard after I clean the floor?"

The wolf was ecstatic! She made him fetch a tennis ball, then a stick, and even a shoe! And then! You wouldn't believe, but a piece of steak magically appeared out of thin air on a plate for him! He was in dog – or wolf –heaven! Wolborg licked her hand in appreciation before sticking his paws out to her, resting them on her abdominal area with his head bowed down.

Emma smiled, "You really want to say grace? Okay!"

The white and grey beast stayed in that position until she finished reciting the religious gratitude before pigging out on his meal. In the meantime the fairy entered the house again, making her way into the kitchen where Tala's personal cook turned her nose up in the air while finishing off her crossword puzzle. Ah well, at least she was still getting paid, ha! With that thought in mind, the cook went back to the puzzle and her glass of Chardonnay.

The brunette chopped up some vegetables, the beets in particular staining her hands a pink colour. Some beef pieces were fried then set aside, the same pot being used to take in the diced produce. Then, everything came together, the soup a pinkish red colour as a final product. Just as she dipped a spoon into the pot to taste test, the doorbell was heard throughout the house.

Emma unlocked the door, the wolf closely behind, "Hi Kai!" He stepped inside, attired in formal clothing consisting of a tailored black suit and a white shirt, "Why are you dressed up? You look nice! Where is Hilary? How was your day?"

"Going out for dinner. Thank you. At the hotel getting ready. Mediocre," The bluenette essentially replied to any and all her enquires seamlessly, "Where is Tala?"

"He's taking a nap,"

"Hn. He's asleep? It's nearly time for dinner,"

"Oh yes! And I made his favourite like you said: borsha!"

Kai raised a brow, "You mean borsch?"

"Borsh...a?"

" _Borsch_ ,"

Emma's fingertips came together, her hand shaped like a teardrop as she waved it, a hilarious European accent laced with her next attempt, "Borsch,"

The beyblader put a hand over hers', lowering it, "No. That's an Italian gesture. We don't do that,"

"Oh,"

"Why do you two keep saying borsch?" A yawning redhead came downstairs, scratching Wolborg behind the ears in the process.

"Hi Tala! I made _borsch_ for you!"

The captain of the Blitzkrieg Boys appeared surprised, "Really?"

"Yeah! Let me serve you dinner,"

"Wait," Kai interjected, glancing over at his companion, "We have somewhere to be,"

"I'm not going anywhere, Kai. Besides," He trekked into the dining area behind the fairy, the bluenette now following also, "I'm hungry,"

Kai hadn't planned on staying for dinner, after all he had dinner plans already, but after two bowls of the Motherland cuisine was served and staring at him, he was unable to say no. Besides, Russian food was not as popular in the States as Chinese, Indian, or Japanese was and he hadn't had the nostalgic food in a long time. He took his seat, the soup with a blob of sour cream in the center looking just like home.

And it tasted even better.

It was bowl-licking good, though Kai would never do that. At least not in public. As Emma vanished behind the doors of the kitchen, he eyed the redhead, "The BBA Formal is in an hour. Why aren't you dressed?"

"I'm not going, Kai,"

"It's because of Julia, isn't it? Figures,"

"While it's true that I don't want to see her hideous fucking face, the fact is I'm really just tired, alright? I've been training nonstop. I have no desire to go,"

The fairy returned with glasses of water garnished with a wedge of lime, "Go where?"

"The BBA Formal,"

"Cool!" Her eyes enlarged with excitement at Kai's response, "Is it like prom? I never got to go to my prom. Can I come?"

"Hn. My plus one is Hilary so I am out of question. Perhaps you could've gone with Tala, but it seems he will not attend," The phoenix rose from his seat, "I have to get going. Thank you for dinner, Emma. It was most lovely,"

"You're welcome! It was my pleasure!" Once Kai was gone, her requests for Tala were nonstop, tailing him around the house, "So can we go? Please, please, please? I always wanted to go to one of these!"

"No," The redhead declined, "It's in less than an hour and anyway, I don't have the patience to get ready,"

Emma beamed, "I can take care of that! Roses are red, violets are blue –"

Tala looked over his shoulder with a scowl, "Don't,"

"– change Tala's clothes into something new!"

He looked down at himself, his sweats and tee long gone for a gunmetal grey suit, a white shirt, and a black tie. He heard the click of high heels, prompting him to gaze up at the fairy who had also materialized clothing for herself. Currently, she was in a fitted black lace skirt and lace white top with a cute black ribbon at the collar, her height elevated with the aid of some black Mary-Janes.

Tala eyed her curiously as she pointed the gold stem to his shirt, her expression one of pondering. His shirt went from white to black to finally a navy, giving away her eye for fashion.

"There!" She declared in satisfaction, the wand sinking.

"Emma..."

"Julia never would have cheated on you if you dressed like this!"

The Russian grimaced at her unintentional insult. She was such an idiot. Then, another thought crossed his mind, "How do you know about Julia?"

"Oh, it was in your profile on the Fairy Network!"

" _What_?"

"Come on, Tala!" She hauled him towards the door, her now retro waves bouncing, "Let's go! I'm so excited!"

* * *

 **And they're off!** I'm slowly unfolding the romance aspect (because anything rushed in romance hardly ever turns out the we want lol you live and learn). Also, if you don't understand something, Google it (for example, 'omw' means 'on my way' in text lingo).

 **R AND R!**

 **Xoxo to...**

 **Mistress of the Arts –** I'm glad you've continued reading 3 Wishes are enjoying it! And yes, that is how I pictured Emma (half black half white) when I thought of the story. She is quite pretty if I do say so myself haha! In terms of Tala shoving her off him, please be prepared! There will be "more" of where that came from.

 **Miley Agrawal –** Spencer sure is pretty out there haha! What part of India, by the way? Do you currently live there? I think Indian women are very catering (we are also South Asian). I was very catering towards my first boyfriend (cooking for him, cleaning for him, etc) but they had gone unappreciated. I am more careful of who I do this with these days because for me it's a sign of love. I have cooked for some guys I dated afterwards – some appreciated it, but you would be surprised at the large number of guys that don't. I live in North America and the men here are a little...strange. I've recently dated a guy straight out of Europe and let me tell ya, it is a WORLD of difference! Hope you're doing well!


	13. Chapter 13

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

Tala couldn't believe he'd been talked into attending the blasted BBA Formal. He circled the banquet hall parking lot looking for a vacant spot. Finding one, the Mustang was parked and the two headed towards the hall's entrance.

"Wow!" Emma commented emphatically, "This is so cool!"

The redhead rolled his eyes, handing his ticket over to the people at the door. The place was packed! There were familiar faces including some new ones. He pinpointed Garland close to the open bar, their feud still alive and well. In the dish they were quite evenly matched by now, the BEGA blader taking the win during some years, the Blitzkrieg Boy triumphant during others, their battles still brutal.

He also saw Tyson Granger. Yes, he was _still_ the world champion. A lot of people had given up on trying to overthrow him as number one. Some people didn't even think he was human. A decade ago, it was obvious he would have ended up with Hilary, shocking the world instead when his relationship with Emily York went public. Turns out neither Hilary nor Tyson ever had a thing for each other, just a deep companionship stemming from years of going to school together.

Likewise with Ray, the BBA world had assumed Mariah and him were a thing. They were. For a very short time in their teens. They made better companionship than a relationship. He was currently dad to a 2 year old with Ming-Ming.

Salima had become a teen mom sometime during the BEGA commotion, her 10 year old daughter also in attendance at the formal.

And Kenny? No one would have ever imagined the brainiac to end up in rehab for substance abuse.

Everyone that people thought they were going to end up with, they didn't, everything that people thought would happen, didn't, and everything people thought wouldn't happen, did. Such was life, Tala concluded.

Then again, Miriam and Max were still together and inseparable, so maybe at least a few things could still be predicted in the rollercoaster that was life.

The redhead strolled through the hall and that's when his gorgeous blue orbs made contact with Julia. They had both looked away from each other immediately, neither on speaking terms.

"Oh! Is that her? Is that your ex? Is it? Is she the one?"

"Can you be any louder?"

"She's pregnant!"

Tala subtly glanced over then smirked, "That's no pregnancy. She got fat," Karma for the win! Especially since he looked better than ever at this point in his life.

"Do you still like her?"

"Fuck no,"

"I can make her like you, you know!"

He raised a brow, "There is a spell like that?"

"Mmmhmm!"

The Russian, while standing discreetly near some fake plants, looked on. Make Julia crawl back to him? Oh, it would be the cherry on top of her progressing obesity! "Do it,"

"What?"

"I wish for it,"

"Really?"

"Yes," He paused and looked over at her, "You _can_ do it, right?"

"Of course! Don't worry, Tala! Your wish is my command!" With that, a thick book resembling an encyclopaedia appeared out of nowhere. It looked really old, aptly titled _Book of Spells_. He watched her flip through the pages, muttering to herself, "Love spell, love spell, love...aha!" The page turning ceased, her green eyes scanning the contents, "Permitted to be cast every three years – whoa! That's a while! They take this love stuff seriously! Anyways. Can be used on human beings only, of any sexuality, reversals done through board of directors, one year wand suspension for misuse, blah, blah, blah, oh this is so boring, alright,"

He looked at her doubtfully as she slapped it closed, the book vanishing in thin air, "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"Yeah!" Emma waved off, "I got this!" She grinned, "Are you ready for your first wish, Tala?"

"Just do it,"

"Wish number one, coming right up!" She cleared her throat, her wand swaying, "Roses are red, violets are blue, let's make Julia fall in love with you!"

Tala could have sworn he felt the ground tremble, the slightly swinging chandeliers confirming so. Grandpa Granger ran for his life – yep, he was still alive – screaming 'EARTHQUAKE!', leaving Tyson rolling his eyes. Emma looked around momentarily before eyeing Julia again to sense any... _difference_. Then, as a clump of Julia's hair suddenly fell out, the fairy gaped. It got worse, the Spanish blader's locks detaching from her scalp quickly and entirely, rendering her bald.

Emma's nostrils flared at the highly undesirable outcome, "Oh Jesus..." She looked at the redhead next to her frightfully, "Maybe I can reverse it! It's highly illegal to do it without the board of director's permission, but I can try to –" She stopped when she heard Tala laugh. Had she finally made him lose his sanity?

"No need. Fat and bald – it's a good look on her," He enjoyed every second of Julia's freak out and the people around her freaking out before gazing downward, "But you screwed up my wish, so I still have three, right?" She pursed her lips together and nodded unenthusiastically, discontent to be back at square one. The redhead shook his head, a miniscule grin tugging at the corner of his lips, "Come on. Let's find my team's table,"

"Hn," Kai smirked through closed eyes, his arms crossed over his chest, "Look who decided to show up,"

"Dude!" Spencer looked horrified as he returned to their table with a drink in hand, "I was just over at the bar and then all of Julia's fucking hair fell out, all of it, just on floor. Man, what the fuck? Is this a new disease? Is it contagious? It is, isn't it," He frantically touched his blonde mane, "What if this shit is airborne?"

Mariah shrugged, "She probably just had extensions on,"

Tala and Emma exchanged glances, the former chuckling as he grabbed a seat at their round table. Coming here didn't seem so bad after all. Mr. Dickenson – yes, he was alive too – made a quick speech officially opening the new BBA tournament and thanking everyone for their attendance. Then, it was on with the dinner and drinks and socializing.

"So this is what prom would have been like!"

"Not exactly," Tala had been done with his dinner, "You have less horny people here,"

"Would you care for more wine, sir?" A server enquired.

The redhead handed him his empty glass, "Sure,"

"And you, Miss?"

"Oh! No, thank you! I don't drink alcohol,"

"Jesus drank wine, you know," Spencer smirked.

Tala frowned at his teammate before glancing at the server, "She's only 18," But the statement had worked against him, the waiter observing her obviously young features and then at him with a raised brow, "Do you have a fucking problem?"

"Alright," Kai halted the potential strangulation about to take place courtesy of the redhead, "We are good, thank you," He essentially urged the server to take his leave.

"Temper, temper," Hilary teased. Then she gasped as the song slowed down, the particular track carrying sentimental value, "Our wedding song!" She exclaimed, tugging at her husband, "Let's go!"

Kai was unwilling, but now that he was married...well, happy wife, happy life, right? He allowed the brunette to haul him to the wooden floor in the center of the hall where it was now couples galore!

As Bryan and Mariah also ditched the table to display their affection on the dance floor, Ian smirked at the blonde, "May I have this dance?"

"Get bent, homo," Spencer whacked Ian's hand away before grabbing it again, "Alright, fine,"

The shorter blader cracked up in laughter. The Blitzkrieg Boys were immensely close, but among them, Spencer and Ian had shared an impeccable bromance akin to Max and Tyson, Howard and Raj of _The Big Bang Theory_ , and Chandler and Joey of _Friends_.

They really went too, Tala looking at them lamely as they made an ass out of themselves with weird and awkward moves, scaring people around them including Ray's kid. He turned his attention back to the now empty table, catching the fairy eyeing him, but as she very quickly looked down, he rolled his eyes, "Yeah, very discreet," He offered the sarcastic remark.

"What?"

He'd had enough experience with the opposite sex to know a few things, "You want to go over there, don't you?"

Her fingers played together while her head was lowered, her teeth biting at her bottom lip to prevent the smile from enlarging any further. The pink in her face was still visible despite her attempt at hiding herself in the curtain of her hair and her shrugging shoulders to his enquiry was a dead giveaway. He was no longer accustomed to such reserved responses, the women within his present age category more vocal about their wants and needs.

The redhead stood from his chair, "Come on,"

He took her hand, her palm slick with perspiration and the heat emanating rivalling a high fever. The fairy jumped as she felt something on the small of her back as they neared the center, his arms hanging off casually while she stood there hella awkwardly.

"Relax," He tugged at her limbs and tossed them over his shoulder, "There," But one look at her face and she was _so_ red, even in the dimly lit area, "How come you're so shy?"

Emma eyed the ground immediately, only the top of her head visible to him, "No I'm not," Came the mumbled reply prior to looking up a smidgen, those exotic green eyes just peeking at him, "I never did this before,"

"High school dances?"

"But I went to an all-girls school,"

"Haven't you ever dated before?"

Her head shook in decline, the gesture stopping abruptly, "Actually, there was this one guy. His name was Cody,"

"Sounds like a white guy,"

"He was,"

He smirked, "You seem to have a thing for white guys,"

"No I don't," That timid beam was still noticeable.

"So tell me about this white guy you dated,"

Emma chuckled, "His name is Cody!"

"Fine, tell me about _Cody_ ,"

"Well, we saw each other every Sunday at church. He came with his mom and dad and I went with my mom and dad and one day he shared his _Happy Meal_ with me and let me keep the toy,"

Tala made a face, "How old were you guys?"

"We were 6,"

He practically face palmed, "That doesn't count, Emma," The song came to an end, the couples dispersing from the dance floor, "Go back to the table. I have to ask Mr. Dickenson something about the tournament,"

"Okay!" The brunette strolled off, a scoffing Hilary waiting for her at their table.

"Did you enjoy yourself, Emma?" She laughed as the younger girl fidgeted with her hands again, "I'm surprised you aren't scared of him. Or the rest of this team, for that matter,"

"But everyone is so nice,"

"Drinks?" Another maître d' stopped by with a platter. It was divided into three sections: a third with wine glasses – both red and white – another third with very small little glasses, and the final third with glasses filled with ice and doused in a pale green juice.

"Oh yes, please," The fairy picked the juice off the tray, "Thank you,"

Ian widened his eyes, "No, that's not –" But as the liquid was chugged down like water, his hand recoiled, "Okay..."

"That was really good!" Emma grinned, "Is it apple juice?"

Spencer smirked, Kai and Hilary's disapproving looks going ignored, "Would you like another one?" He grabbed another green drink off the tray for her when she nodded and handed it over, "Enjoy your apple juice, Emma. Just slow it down, will you?"

Bryan looked amused, "Leave it to Spence to stir shit up,"

"What did you expect? She's sitting with a bunch of Russians," The blonde was quick to note Mariah and Hilary's glare, "And two Asians..."

* * *

 **Oh, Spencer. Sigh. Please review!**

 **True Story #2.** The start of this chapter portrays a lot of changes in many of the beybladers' lives. Drastic changes for some. This part was definitely taken from real life! Growing up, I never would have imagined my life and the life of those around me to change so much. For example, at 15 I completely and entirely thought that by 21 I would have finished post secondary education, have a rewarding career immediately after graduating, be engaged by 23, married by 25, and a baby by 27. I am almost 27 and none of those things have happened (...yet. I still have hope, hence 'yet'). Looking at those around me, I also assumed to be friends with certain people for the rest of my life and while I am fortunate enough to be friends with 1 or 2 of them, many of us have drifted apart or have had a falling out; certain couples were expected to stay together forever and some fell apart while other couples we never thought would make it, made it pretty good. The point is, things change and they change in ways you would never expect. A few things will remain the same though (which is why I added the Max and Miriam part and Tyson remaining champion). Such really is life! It truly is one hell of a ride and where it stops, nobody knows! Haha.

 **Thank you:**

 **Miley Agrawal –** You are so lucky to live in such a hot place! We only get 2 months of summer here :( Even then, the summer is never as hot as you want it to be. Today, for example, it was raining and it was windy and we had to put a sweater or something on! So frustrating! Haha. You probably enjoy a heat wave everyday! And yes, the last chapter focused more on character development (Emma making Tala his favourite, Kai's interaction/opening up to Emma). A few chapters in the future chapter will be like that! This one had some action. Next one will be exciting too :P Btw, thank you for faithfully reviewing every chapter, I really appreciate it. You have been the only one to leave a comment for every chapter and I love reading them!


	14. Chapter 14

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

"– and that is why this year the tournament will not consist of a tag team," Mr. Dickenson finished while the captains of all the BBA teams stood around him, some with wine glasses in their hands.

Tala silently stood close by while a few asked questions. Perhaps he would pick up on something important. He glanced over his shoulder when felt a hand crawl up his back.

"Hi Tala!" Emma walked around him, missing her footing over the DJ's turntable cord. The redhead stuck a hand behind her back quickly, breaking the fall, but she remained bent over his arm, swaying, "Oh lordy, everything is upside down,"

"And who do we have here?" Mr. Dickenson enquired, "Tala?"

"This is Emma," He essentially introduced, but wrinkled his nose when the fairy let out a small giggly 'hi' to the chairman of the BBA all while still inverted, "I parked my car by a meter and the time is up, so I have to get going,"

"So soon? Well, alright," The chairman smiled, "And it was nice to meet you, Emma,"

"You too,"

And as she clasped her hands and held them by her face while batting her eyelashes at the older man, Tala decided it was _really_ time to go. He pulled her back upright, leading her away from the circle of captains ceasing further embarrassment. Only under the influence could anyone get flirty with Mr. Dickenson. He made his way over to the Blitzkrieg Boys' table, his gaze falling on the two empty margarita glasses by the fairy's seat, "What the fuck?" The captain gestured a hand towards the glasses, looking around the table for an explanation.

Ian rose from his chair, "I had nothing to do with this," He scurried off somewhere and while Bryan raised his arms defensively, the redhead grimaced at Spencer.

"Did you give her something to drink?"

"Hey man, she had apple juice. That's what she thought it was and that's what I thought it was. We are both innocent,"

"You're a fucking moron. She's 18, Spencer!"

"Says the guy who started drinking while still in the womb," The blonde rolled his eyes, "Big deal, man. It was going to happen one day anyway. I'm just preparing her for college. She seems fine to me,"

"She was hitting on Dickenson," He returned his attention on the fairy who tugged at his blazer, "What?"

"I feel funny,"

He rolled his eyes and checked his phone for the time. It was just after midnight, the formal due to end around 2 AM, "We are going home,"

"She's fine, man!"

"Fuck you, Spencer," Tala exited the hall, his arm latched onto her since her heels only deterred her balance even further, "Do you feel sick?"

"I feel funny,"

"Do you need to throw up? Tell me now because if you puke in my car, I'll kill you,"

Her facial expression contorted at an alarming speed, her brows turned upward, her lips quivering, her voice cracking, "You will?"

"No!" The potential waterworks were put to a halt, "No," He repeated, "I didn't mean it like that, okay?"

The alcohol really seemed to put her emotions through the ringer as she suddenly grinned with a nod, "Okay!"

Tala rubbed his temple before helping her into the passenger seat of the Mustang, buckling her in, "Just let me know if you feel sick. We'll stop somewhere,"

Luckily he didn't need to make any pit stops. Nonetheless, her string of 'fun facts' was becoming irritating, "Fun fact, Tala," He sighed as he assisted her out of the vehicle and unlocked the front door to his house, "Did you know," She stumbled indoors, "Well, did you?"

"Did I what?"

"Did you know?"

"Just shut up," He lifted her and sat her down on the top of the back of the couch while standing before her, "Do you still feel 'funny'?"

She gestured positively with her head before suddenly hiding her face between her hands. She laughed lightly, peeking at him from in between the cracks of her fingers, closing them quickly as he looked back at her.

"Weirdo,"

"You looked very nice today,"

The compliment was unexpected, having caught him by surprise, "Is that so?" He chuckled, tugging at one of her hands that refused to show her face, "You're so shy,"

"I'm not shy,"

"Then why are you hiding?"

"No I'm not. See?" The hands parted, "Hi!" But only for a split second as they came back together. The action rendered a mini battle to take place until he forcefully yanked her hands down, revealing her red face riddled with coyness. She dare not look up; him standing so closely right in front of her was nerve-wracking enough, her fingers playing with the tail of his black tie absentmindedly.

Tala, on the other hand, was rather amused. He wondered just how far the sinkhole that was her timidity went, "Fun fact," He smirked, stealing her stunt, "Did you know, Emma," His blues gave her a swift once over, "That you're really pretty?" It earned him a silly little giggle and he decided that wasn't enough, "And that you have nice eyes," He detected a faint smile, "And nice lips," She reacted with a squirm; okay, warmer. He tugged at her chin, raising it from its previous position where it was practically glued to her chest. As his thumb grazed over the pouty flesh, she looked like she was about to die.

Jackpot.

Well, he didn't want to kill her...

Alas, he found that he may have to. They were the most plump set of lips he had ever personally encountered, her bottom lip heavier than the top. Definitely the product of her mixed background. They were so juicy and full looking that a tiny prick of a needle would cause the blood squirt right out of them. They had a natural blush to them, almost as if they'd been bruised by a recent kiss.

The fact that she was an entire eight years younger than him crossed his mind, the thought making him feel a little uneasy. It was a shame he hadn't been aware of her age when he first met her; perhaps that piece of information would have allowed him to set particular boundaries from the beginning. He recalled the way the server had looked at him and her at the formal: sympathetically at her for being so naive and repulsively at him for the assumed exploitation.

Ian was right – she was 'fresh out of high school'. But so was Spencer – she was legal.

Tala wanted that bottom lip.

He had always found it rather corny when he heard of stories where the man would ask, but today, he found himself in the very corny predicament, "Can I kiss you?" Perhaps it was for reassurance, to know that she wanted this so that he wouldn't feel so ridiculous and perverted after. He caught the faint nod of her head, her eyes still closed shut as if awaiting the event.

The redhead leaned closer, a mere inch away from the prized pout, but as she let out that signature high-pitched scream, his blue eyes opened wide just in time catch her falling backwards over the sofa, her legs up in the air. The episode had taken the cake for the most absurd way to ruin a moment.

"You're so drunk," Tala shook his head, "Fucking Spencer," He mumbled prior to helping her to her feet and eventually upstairs where she plopped onto the mattress.

She lifted her head, not bothering to move her hair that was all over her face, "I feel weird,"

He turned off the bedside lamp, "Look, just sleep it off,"

"Will you stay with me, please?"

"Fine. Just let me go eat some borsch,"

"Really?"

"Yeah, I really liked it,"

Emma's face dropped to the pillow again, silently letting him go. The cook had put the leftover soup into the fridge, only a serving left. It was popped into the microwave and once content with the desired level of heat, he headed back upstairs with the bowl in hand. He claimed his 'side' of the bed, resting his back against the headboard while savouring the final portion of the red soup. It was seasoned to precision, its flavour more authentic than his mother's version. The empty bowl was put aside on the bedside table before he lay down, rolling his eyes as the partially asleep fairy slid closer leaving more than half the mattress empty.

* * *

 **Yup, I just pulled a Marlene King with that ALMOST kiss! Pretty Little Liars reference LOL!** If you watch PLL, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about LOL. Years and years of being teased only to be let down with a bullshit A-reveal. A shame, really. Horrible way to ruin a great show and an even worse way to treat loyal fans of the show.

 **R and R!**

 **Thank you to:**

 **Miley Agrawal –** When I say heat wave, for us it goes to about 35 degrees Celsius, feeling like 40 degrees with humidity. I love it! Some people don't really like it because everything is sticky, everyone is sweaty, but I absolutely love it. The dance part with Emma was written based on how I was when I first experienced boys. Sometimes, I am still shy (like if they want to kiss me...which is where the almost kiss for this chapter was inspired from. It's actually a true story! I just wasn't drunk and I didn't fall lol).

 **Tryptamine –** I was wondering where you disappeared to! Wow, you are back! Haha! I am glad. Got a little worried there. Yes! I know FFNET had some issue right after I uploaded the last chapter – I was unable to access the site too! You are right, Ray and Mariah are overrated. They are so...similar. I always enjoy differences (even in my own personal dating life). Tala and Mariah make a cute couple! I actually read a few stories about them on here, they were really adorable! They look great together too! I don't know who knocked up Salima haha! I actually cracked myself up writing about Emma's spell and Grandpa Granger. I am very lame like that. And yes! Emma's reaction to the dance part was definitely written based off of how us girl were when we first started liking a boy and had a crush and all that stuff. I had to dig real deep into my memory and feelings to write that one! And at 23, you are young. I wish I was 23! I can actually remember turning 23 so clearly. Time flies in your 20s. Eventually, you stop giving a shit about the timeline and break free (typically this happens after a meltdown in your mid to late 20s lol). Exiled will be updated soon! I don't know how soon though lol. And I am waiting for an update for Bloodlines! YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE IT THERE! Will it be rated M by the way? :P

 **Mistress of the Arts –** You won't get this comment for your chapter 5 review until you reach this chapter haha! But thank you!


	15. Chapter 15

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

Leaning against the doorframe with his arms folded over his chest, Tala frowned as the fairy continued to snooze into the afternoon. He'd woken up hours ago and followed his routine of working out, training on his own for a little bit before meeting up with the rest of his team for more practice. He had also managed to squeeze in a couple minutes to give Spencer a piece of his mind for 'educating' Emma on alcohol.

"Emma," He walked inside, patting the brunette on the small of her back. She had gone to sleep in last night's dress, her heels kicked off somewhere near the foot of the bed, "Wake up. It's past 2 o'clock,"

"2?" Emma's head rose slightly, her bearings a little off. Then, she sat up quickly and rubbed her face, "What did you eat then? Did you have breakfast? What about lun -"

"Relax. Ruth was more than happy to make something for me today," The redhead referred to the cook, "How do you feel?"

"I feel okay," Just a little groggy.

"No headache?"

"No,"

"You're a fucking lightweight. You were done with 2 margaritas. Now come on, get up," But as she slid off the bed and face planted into the floor, he rolled his eyes, "What the hell's the matter with you?"

"I'm tired," A yawn escaped, ceasing halfway in surprise when she was scooped off the ground, her limbs wrapping around him automatically. It was the first time he experienced her weight, or lack thereof, in its entirety. Definitely under a 100 pounds, especially with the ease of which he carried her to the first floor. Maintaining an arm under her bum, he removed the other off her back to open the cupboard in the kitchen to fetch a glass. He could feel her chest puff up, his eyes narrowing at the action.

"Stop," The glass was filled with water, "I just got back from training,"

Emma inhaled deeply again, her nose attached to his neck, "But I like the way you smell,"

"You do realize I'm covered in sweat, right?"

"But I still like it," She continued, her palms resting on his chest as he sat her on the counter, "It smells like...you," It was the best she could describe it. Just his natural smell, his perspiration intensifying it, oddly and disgustingly enough.

Tala wrinkled his nose, partly in repulsion that a woman could even enjoy him in his filthy state. It was the strangest praise he had ever received. Typically it was his eyes, his hair, his body, or his dick.

"That's enough," He handed her the water and pulled away.

As she drank, the redhead recalled their little encounter last night. Well, _almost_ encounter. It was a good thing it did not take place, his mildly tipsy mind lacking obvious judgement. God knew how far it would have gone too if their almost encounter had been an actual encounter. Jesus. She had been so willing, too. This is how men got themselves into trouble. He never in a million years dreamed – or 'nightmared', rather – he'd be one of them. Women, especially the young ones, all enticing and shit. Ian's words resonated through his mind; he felt utterly dirty and it had nothing to with his raggedy t-shirt stuck to his back from his sweat.

"Do you remember anything from yesterday?" He just wanted to make sure.

The fairy lowered the glass, her green eyes shifting towards the ceiling in thought. Then she grinned, nodding enthusiastically, "Oh! We were talking about exotic dancers!"

"What?"

"Yes! And I told your friends that if they ever go to Vegas, they should go to _Gold Rail_ and see my mom!"

" _What_? Wait. Your mom's a..." And as she bobbed her head up and down, his blue eyes had gone wide in disbelief, "She's a stripper?"

"Mmmhmm!"

" _What_."

"She dances at _Gold Rail_ in Vegas! She's really good!"

Tala stared at her blankly, expressions failing to depict his bomb-shelled mind and never did he think he would ever have to ask the following question, "So your mom is really a stripper?"

"Yup! Her real name is Crystal Graham, but she goes by Crystal Clear on stage. You should see her, Tala!"

His blue eyes flickered over her face. She wasn't kidding about her mother's profession. _Or_ the fact that he should check her out. A _bing_ went off, his train of thought disappearing from the all-holy fairy's stripper mom to Spencer's incoming message: _bbq at my place tonight halle berry is invited too._ He tossed the phone at the brunette, "Looks like you won't have to make dinner either,"

"Whoa! Cool! You know _Halle Berry_!"

"He's referring to you,"

"Oh,"

Eventually he concluded that she did not bear in mind the 'events' of yesterday. It was a relief and, he decided, a sign; he was usually a man of caution, but he would have to up that level of caution with regards to temptations. She was only here to do her job, after all.

 **x x x**

Spencer quickly swiped the can of fruit juice out of Ian's hands, "Nope. That's for Emma. Tala said if I ever give her alcohol again, he'll gauge my eyes out. He seemed pretty serious about it too. And I like my eyes because women like my eyes – that's how I get laid,"

Ian wrinkled his nose at the latter statement before moving onto another thought, "He's bringing his housekeeper here? What the fuck?"

"I told him to bring her,"

"I highly doubt she's _just_ his housekeeper," Bryan flipped several burger patties on the BBQ grill with a set of tongs, "Something shady's going on,"

Hilary loomed over the grill with a mixed drink in hand, "Emma is a very sweet girl,"

"She's _18_ ,"

She frowned at Ian, "That has nothing to do with how nice she is. Kai thinks so too,"

"Hn,"

"I think all Ian's saying is," Bryan piped in again, "It's a little fucking weird, alright? I mean none of his maids stay overnight except for this 12 year old –"

" _18_ ," Hilary interjected before she continued.

"Same shit,"

"I like her,"

Mariah rolled her eyes at Spencer who returned to the table with a plate of freshly barbequed sausages, "You would,"

"Let Tala do whatever the fuck he wants. Besides, she's polite, she's cheerful, she's attractive, she's all cute with saying grace and shit, and she can cook,"

"What is this?" Hilary made a face at the last statement, "The 50s?"

"She's a good girl. You don't see many like that anymore. These days bitches are out hoeing themselves,"

" _That_ ," Bryan raised a finger, "I concur with. But still, she's too fucking young,"

Hilary shrugged, "She's old enough to start college,"

"Exactly," The blonde Blitzkrieg Boy filled Mariah's awaiting cup with sangria, "Who the fuck cares? It's not that big of a deal," He paused just in time as the redhead stepped through the sliding glass doors to his backyard, "Speak of the devil,"

Tala only nodded in acknowledgement before making his way over to the icebox full of drinks.

"Hi!" In the meantime, Spencer raised a brow as Emma held something out to him, "I made blueberry pie,"

As he accepted, he gestured over to the table, "Why don't you go sit with Mariah over there? Food's almost ready,"

"Okay!"

While she ran off, Bryan leaned over and dipped a finger between the crisscrossed crust and took a taste of the warm gooey – _American Pie_ anyone? – blueberry filling, "Oh shit, that's good,"

Spencer slapped his teammate's hand away when it crept back for another try, "Quit desecrating the damn thing," Then he shrugged, hypocritically sampling some himself, "Fuck, you're right," The duo disappeared through the glass doors, not to be seen for the next fifteen minutes.

By the end of the evening, the table top was covered in empty plates, dishes, sangria pitchers, and bottles and cans. Tala looked around the table, the homemade dessert missing, "Emma brought something for everyone,"

"Yup!" The brunette grinned, "Blueberry pie!"

Crickets chirped as the redhead waited for it to appear. He'd been looking forward to it all evening, from the time he had come home after running a few more errands during the late afternoon. His home had never smelled better. It had just been sitting there, cooling on the dining table unattended. Alas, just before he could dip a knife and cut himself a piece, she had insisted it was for the BBQ and he could have some later. Now was later.

" _Well_?" He pressed on.

Bryan cleared his throat, "About the pie..."

"There's been an accident..." And as his team captain raised a quizzical brow, Spencer continued, "Yes, we..."

"We ate it all," Bryan finished, "And I'm not even sorry, I'm sorry,"

Hilary rolled her eyes, "Nice,"

"You ate the whole fucking thing?"

"That shit was like a blowjob, but in my mouth,"

Mariah slowly turned her head towards her boyfriend, "What?"

"That came out very wrong, but you know what I mean,"

Spencer nodded, "I definitely know what you mean,"

"Yeah," Ian cupped a hand around his mouth, " _Gaaaay_ ,"

And while that started a war of gay jokes among Bryan, Ian, and Spencer, Tala only crossed his arms and glared at the fairy next to him.

She smiled nervously, "I can make you some more at home,"

The redhead turned away as if to say 'you better'.

* * *

 **Sorry I haven't thanked anyone in this chapter. It's very late and this chapter was delayed. Please review!**

"Emma," She had gone to sleep to sleep in last night's dress, her face buried into the pillow and framed by her arms, "Wake up. It's 2 o'clock,"


End file.
